This 7CD set is the fruit of the love affair that developed in Paris between Leonard Bernstein and the Orchestre National de France in the 1970s. Beside long-admired studio recordings, featuring Mstislav Rostropovich and Alexis Weissenberg among the soloists, it presents live performances completely new to the catalogue: a 1975 programme to celebrate Ravel’s centenary – with Bernstein himself as soloist in the G major piano concerto – and orchestral suites taken from two of Bernstein’s most celebrated and brilliant works, both infused with jazz: the film score On the Waterfront and the landmark Broadway musical West Side Story.

Of the many important anniversaries occurring in 2018, it is worth remembering the 350th death anniversary of the violin virtuoso Francesco Maria Veracini. What better occasion to (re-)discover Enrico Gatti’s first reference recording for the label Arcana?

This fascinating survey of the Russian (and Polish!) piano concerto includes the masterworks of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov - beloved examples at the pinnacle of both Russian music and the piano concerto genre - along with more- and lesser-known yet all eminently worthy works by composers from both Imperial and Soviet Russia and those by Paderewski, Scharwenka and Moszkowski, who were born in what today is Poland. Though the piano concerto is now inextricably linked in modern minds to the Russian repertoire, the area's isolation meant that it would take some time for the genre to take hold there, but that it would grow into a unique, characteristic and varied expression. Apart from the jaw-dropping virtuosity and orchestral brilliance of these works, they share that common Slavonic flavor, an undefinable mixture of melancholy and passion, whether smoldering or blazing. The recordings on this release date from between 1964 and 2016.

As part of his final year as Music Director and following a two-season celebration of the Orchestra’s 125th anniversary, Peter Oundjian and the RSNO here present their second recording of music by John Adams, with the exceptional participation of the Doric String Quartet. Written for a large orchestra including six percussionists, keyboard sampler, and amplified steel-string guitar, Naive and Sentimental Music is a sweepingly symphonic masterpiece, full of contrasts and clashes. It reflects the dichotomy between ‘naive’ and ‘sentimental’ poetry as analysed by Friedrich Schiller in his 1795 essay Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung, as well as the ‘bipolar’ musical life of Esa-Pekka Salonen, the dedicatee of this piece, who conducted the first performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1999. Absolute Jest is a large-scale scherzo for amplified string quartet and orchestra, heavily inspired by the music of Beethoven, which Adams has always deeply admired. The quartet of soloists, a late addition to the score, emphasises the echoes of Beethoven’s music (mainly his string quartets) and facilitates a ‘hyperspace rate’ of virtuosity, which the Doric String Quartet here perfectly demonstrates.

Fabio Biondi has chosen a selection of delightful virtuoso chamber music pieces by Niccolò Paganini to mark his tenth album for Glossa. Together with his long-term colleague from Europa Galante, the plucked-string specialist Giangiacomo Pinardi (here playing an original romantic guitar from c1825), Biondi delivers one of the most special Glossa albums of recent times. The works, composed between 1804 and c1828, are mainly two-movement sonatas contained in the Centone di sonate collection, although the album also includes the popular Sonata concertata in A major.

• 101 Hits No.1 Dad carefully compiled across 5 CDs, presenting some of the finest repertoire ever available at this price point. Featuring the greatest rock, pop and soul anthems guaranteed to be a certified hit with all dads this Father’s Day. Including the likes of Thin Lizzy, The Jam, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Status Quo and many more… •

Tom Waits’ Glitter and Doom Live doesn't fall into the various traps that many other concert recordings do, though it does have its problems. This double-disc set marks his third live effort in his nearly 40-year career, each one summing up his career to the point of its release. The first, Nighthawks at the Diner, issued in 1975 on Asylum, is regarded by many as one of the greatest live albums of all time. Big Time, released during his tenure at Island in 1986, is hotly debated in fan circles. It is likely that Glitter and Doom Live will be too, but for different reasons. The musical performances here were culled from Waits’ historic sold-out tour of the U.S. and Europe. He compiled and sequenced the tracks himself, intending to make them sound like a single show…

Ultimate 60s Hits presents 100 of the most loved and cherished 1960s hits from the greatest icons of the time. This superb collection wonderfully encapsulates the Swinging Sixties, jam packed with upbeat dance songs and the most mesmerising vocals & smooth melodies. Take a trip down memory lane with Donovan, The Mamas & The Papas, The Beach Boys, Lulu, The Troggs, Petula Clark, Tom Jones, Scott Walker, Dusty Springfield plus many more great names

Atomic Rooster was a British progressive-rock group formed in 1969 with an original lineup of Vincent Crane (organ), Nick Graham (bass), and Carl Palmer (drums).

Deutsche Grammophon is celebrating Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday (August 18, 2018) with a mammoth project. The great conductor, composer and musical communicator is commemorated in various editions; This Complete Works edition celebrates Bernstein's work as a passionate composer for the first time, a facet of his multiple works that was particularly close to his heart. The entire spectrum of Bernstein's musical work is presented on 26 CDs and 3 DVDs, music for ballets, operas, musicals, soundtracks, symphonic works, as well as piano, chamber and vocal music - Bernstein's work as a composer unfolds not only stylistically but also genre-wise. regarding in living diversity.

CLASSIC 1978 BROADCAST FROM GERMANY S THEN DIVIDED CITY After falling out with his long-time manager Herb Cohen, Frank Zappa spent much of the late 1970s in a legal battle with Cohen and later with Warner Brothers too. With the majority of his own recorded material thus tied up, Zappa concentrated on touring with a small, rock-oriented band. March 1978 witnessed the release of Zappa In New York, recorded live with a 13-strong band at the Palladium in late December 1976. Demonstrating in equal measure Zappa s extraordinary ability as a composer and fearless approach to controversial topics, the record reached a respectable No. 57 on the Billboard chart. Two standout numbers from In New York, Titties & Beer and The Black Page , would be a fixture of Zappa sets by the time his 1978 European tour rolled around, as the concert featured on this two CD set can attest.

The Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son has attracted admirers in venues of multiple types: in the buttoned-down world of the classical music competition, and in the broad popular arena of YouTube, where a video of Son performing the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, has attracted some ten million views. Son chooses that concerto for her Mozart debut, and here she has the added advantage of backing by Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields.

The Official Soundtrack to the new Eric Clapton documentary ‘Life In 12 Bars’, directed by Oscar-winner Lili Fini Zanuck. The documentary about the legendary 18-time Grammy winner premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before Showtime bought the US TV rights. The 32-track double CD features 4 previously unreleased songs, and includes tracks by Clapton, Yardbirds, Derek & the Dominoes, Cream, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Blind Faith, The Beatles, Aretha Franklin and Muddy Waters.

Volume 2 of Discovering the Classical String Trio is a continuation of The Vivaldi Project's exploration of the 18th-century string trio, of its relationship to the earlier Baroque trio sonata (as exemplified by Vivaldi and contemporaries) and of its role as an important genre in its own right, side-by-side with the emerging string quartet. The string trio, although largely overlooked during the past century, was manifestly popular in its day at its compositional peak (c. 1760-1770) out-publishing the string quartet by a ratio of more than five to one! These forgotten works, some 2000 string trios by more than 200 composers, reveal not only a wonderful amalgam of instrumental techniques and styles, but also a significant, untold part of chamber music history.

Bad as Me is Tom Waits' first collection of new material in seven years. He and Kathleen Brennan - wife, co-songwriter, and production partner - have, at the latter's insistence, come up with a tight-knit collection of short tunes, the longest is just over four minutes. This is a quick, insistent, and woolly aural road trip full of compelling stops and starts. While he's kept his sonic experimentation - especially with percussion tracks - Waits has returned to blues, rockabilly, rhythm & blues, and jazz as source material. Instead of sprawl and squall, we get chug and choogle. For "Chicago" - via Clint Maedgen's saxes, Keith Richards' (who appears sporadically here) and Marc Ribot's guitars, son Casey Waits' drums, dad's banjo, percussion and piano, and Charlie Musselwhite's harmonica (he appears numerous times here, too) - we get a 21st century take on vintage R&B…