Alexander Brincken, born in Leningrad in 1952 and Swiss-based since 1992, writes in an accessible and unashamedly late-Romantic language. His grandiose Fourth Symphony of 2014–15, written for a huge orchestra, has echoes of a number of earlier composers, among them Berlioz, Bruckner, Martinů, Wagner and, especially, Franz Schmidt and Richard Strauss, all assimilated into a big-hearted style that blends dignity, lyricism and power, with a strong sense of the Swiss landscapes in which he has made his home. The earlier Capriccio for piano and orchestra – a concerto in all but name – has, in turn, something of the sober strength and wiry energy of Frank Martin – curiously, since it was written seven years before Brincken moved to Switzerland.

Blake Shelton's new album "Fully Loaded: God's Country" releases on 12/13/19! This album features four new songs including Blake's #1 hit, "God's Country", along with 9 of his previous hits.

Ysaÿe’s works for violin and orchestra are far less frequently encountered than his solo sonatas. There was always something of a vogue in Russia for some of the bigger works. Oistrakh was a proponent of the Poème élégiaque, recording it. More recently Raskin has committed a couple to disc. But in the main these are under-recorded works of lush, Chausson-esque evocation.

"Dragonfly: The word carries with it a variety of meanings that conjure up unexpected comparisons, connections, and enigmatic relationships. In the title piece, "Dragonfly", the unforeseen culminates in a sensitive duel between the Vietnamese-Parisian Huong Thangh and the Cameroon-New Yorker Richard Bona. It was necessary that such a mythical creature as the dragon, a symbol for good luck in Asia, lift itself up and over the chasm that separates the different styles, the disparate geographic and historic terrain, thus bridging the gap between musical cultures.

This is the original, somewhat longer version of the opera, for which director Sven-Eric Bechtolf created, in place of Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s adaptation of Molières Le bourgeois gentilhomme, a fascinatingly entertaining intermezzo in which theatre, dance and the masterly music of Richard Strauss form an impressive unity. “It incorporates elements of Molière’s play and text from the later prologue, with which he and Strauss salvaged their hybrid flop to produce the masterpiece we know today,” wrote The Sunday Times. “In the abstract, it might sound ­rarefied, but on the Salzburg opera stage, it proved entrancing.” TheNew York Times reported, “Jonas Kaufmann was spectacular as Bacchus growing improbably stronger as his relatively brief stint progressed. Emily Magee was scarcely less impressive in the demanding longer role of Ariadne. And Elena Mosuc managed Zerbinetta’s vocal pyrotechnics with aplomb.”

Eine großartige Sängerin muss nicht immer ein großartiges Leben haben (vgl. Nina Simone, Tina Turner, Edith Piaf, z.B). Auch Pauline Ngoc wurde von selbigem nicht gerade verwöhnt. Kind eines Franzosen und einer Vietnamesin, wurde sie, in den 70ern, in ihrer Heimat ein Top-Star: Man nannte sie der schwarze diamant. Sie musste vor den Vietcong aus Saigon nach Marseille fliehen und schlug sich durch nach Paris. Dort trat sie, politisch und künstlerisch, fu r die Boat People ein. Weitere Stationen fu hrten sie an die Elfenbeinküste und nach Virginia, bis sie in Deutschland eine neue Heimat fand.

On his new album—titled 9, both for where it falls in the chronology and for the number he wore on the baseball jerseys of his youth—he sounds a bit more seasoned working in familiar modes.

"I had an occasional flash of understanding, but then got selfishly wrapped up again in my own problems and pleasures," is a quote from Anne Frank's diary, the book on which The Beauty That Still Remains is based. These are thoughts we must all take heed of, confronting injustice that does not strike directly at ourselves. This recording represents a deep musical engagement with such universal values as empathy and faith in the good that is in every person. Asylos deals with the contradictions of inclusion and exclusion, and points up the connection between the pilgrims of the past and the asylum seekers of our time. The Norwegian Girls Choir addresses the theme of the inviolability of human dignity. The music by Marcus Paus and Maja S.K. Ratkje frames, in contrasting ways, the power that humanity and hope carry with them even amid the most intense horror, and through testimonies of the past these works tell us how relevant these topics still are.