Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic accent the colours, rhythms, and passion of music by leading composers from Argentina in this invigorating evening at the Hollywood Bowl. Master of the Tango Nuevo, Astor Piazzolla’s four tangos feature on stage the dance company Tango Buenos Aires, known worldwide as the most authentic and uncompromising representative of the tango. Alberto Ginastera, one of the most important twentieth century classical composers of the Americas and Piazzolla´s first teacher, is also represented on this brand new release from C Major Entertainment, along with Lalo Schifrin, whom, beside his concert music, is the composer of the famous scores of Mission Impossible and Dirty Harry. His Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, a world-premiere recording, is composed for Ángel Romero, an iconic master of the classical guitar.

Ginastera (Buenos Aires) was married to a cellist, his inspiration to write numerous works for cello. He is a true master in integrating the folk-music of his country into his works, that show a great variety: symphonic music, chamber-music, ballet, opera, songs, choirmusic. Pampeana no. 2 (1950), a rhapsody for cello, inspired by the Argentinean pampa is an exuberant piece, full of virtuosity. In this version for cello-octet two soloists engage in a lively discussion.

These soulful Spanish and Argentinean songs arranged by violist Kim Kashkashian and pianist Robert Levin are well suited to their expressive and expansive playing. Most of the songs, ranging from works by Granados, de Falla, and Montsalvatge to early Ginastera, are written in a late romantic to early modern idiom, and many incorporate a strong folk element. The selections include rowdy, rhythmically charged dance-like songs, tender lullabies, and many flavors of love songs, from the exultant to the despairing. In addition to the better-known composers, Argentineans Carlos Guastavino and Carlos López-Buchardo make extraordinarily fine contributions. The choices of repertoire are excellent; each one of these songs is a jewel, and the ordering of the selections artful, including the surprisingly effective repetition of two songs at different points in the program. The transcriptions are inventive and imaginative, with the vocal lines idiomatically adapted for the viola's expressive capabilities.

This massive new reissue from Eugene Ormandy’s stereo discography collects all the Columbia Masterworks recordings he made in Philadelphia between the early 1960s and early 1980s. Sony Classical’s new 94-CD box set once again demonstrates what noted critic Jed Distler, reviewing the previous instalment of this ambitious project “The Columbia Stereo Collection 1958–1963” in Gramophone’s December 2023 issue, characterized as “the Philadelphia Orchestra’s brilliance and versatility as well as Ormandy’s unflappable consistency and habitually underestimated interpretative gifts”.

“Unquestionably one of the greatest pianists of all time” is how Gramophone magazine has described Martha Argerich. Her relationship with the label goes back to 1965 and her victory at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Over several decades it has produced a rich catalogue of live and studio recordings, embracing a repertoire that spans three centuries, a diversity of genres, and collaborations with such figures as Charles Dutoit, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky and Itzhak Perlman. The complete recordings for EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics are featured in this box.

Sean Shibe returns to the acoustic guitar on Profesion, bringing together works by Agustin Barrios, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Alberto Ginastera. The album derives its name from Barrios's "Profesion de fe" (profession of faith), a poetic, mythological text praising the divine power of music, often used as a preface to his concerts. Barrios's La Catedral and Julia Florida are combined with Villa Lobos's 12 Etudes, while Ginastera's Guitar Sonata completes the programme. These works by Southern American composers share a spirit of homage and pastiche, bound together by magical realism.

Hilary Hahn's latest album, Eclipse, celebrates the power of authenticity. Recorded with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and its Music Director (2014-2021), Andres Orozco-Estrada, it sees the triple Grammy-winning violinist deliver interpretations of three works charged with universal emotions yet rooted in their composers' musical heritage: Dvor k's Violin Concerto, Ginastera's Violin Concerto, a strikingly original 20th-century gem, and Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy.

David Leisner is on extraordinarily versatile musician with a multifaceted career as electrifying performing artist, a distinguished composer, and a master teacher. Regarded as one of America’s leading classical guitarists, his superb musicianship and provocative programming have been applauded by critics and audiences around the world.

The connection between Wales and the harp is a long-standing one, and Mathias's part in it began 12 years before his Harp Concerto was written, with Improvisations for harp solo; even a Welshman has to learn how to cope with such an idiosyncratic instrument. He learned his lessons well—even using semitone pedal glissandos in the second movement, and he keeps the harp audible by alternating its solo passages with orchestral ones or, when the two are working together treating the orchestra with a light touch (the celesta is used as a particularly effective companion to the harp), at other times resorting to the more familiar across-the-strings sweep. Two movements have declared Welsh associations: the first juxtaposes but does not develop three themes the second is a 'bardic' elegy; the last is simply ''joyful and rhythmic''. The whole makes pleasing listening appealing to the emotions and imagination rather than the intellect.