Of all the reconstructions prompted by the 1991 Mozart jamboree, Philip Wilby’s recreation of the Violin and Piano Concerto of 1778 was the most worthwhile. Wilby skilfully completed the 120-bar fragment of the first movement and took the slow movement and finale from the unusually brilliant, ‘public’ D major Violin Sonata, K306. There are problems – not least of dates – with Wilby’s thesis that the Sonata is the ‘last resting-place’ of the projected double concerto. But the three movements certainly make a satisfying entity. Midori and Eschenbach give an immensely polished reading, phrasing with unfailing subtlety and sophistication.

Leave it to Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony to deliver one of the more impressive classical discs of 1999: a pairing of the violin concertos of John Adams and Philip Glass. Hearing the works of these two American music mavericks side-by-side is a study in contrasts: Adams's postmodernist composition from 1993 is filled with spooky overtones, as the violin threads its way through the piece, always at the forefront. It doubles as a ballet (the NYC Ballet cocommissioned the piece), yet never forgets the traditional violin-concerto form. Glass's composition from the late '80s is less complex. It, too, is based around a traditional structure of three movements, but these are passages we've heard from the composer for the last decade, though never quite so well assembled.

It's the late Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121, that get the big print on the cover of this release by the awe-inspiring baritone Matthias Goerne, but actually the music on the album falls into a neat early-middle-late classification scheme. The group of middle-period settings of poetry by Heinrich Heine doesn't even get graphics on the cover, but these are fascinating. Brahms wrote a lot of songs, but you couldn't do better than the selection and performances here for a cornerstone collection item. Beyond the sheer beauty of Goerne's voice is an ability to shift gears to match how Brahms' style evolved. If you want to hear his real slashing, operatic high notes, check out the Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 32, settings of poems by the minor poets Georg Friedrich Daumer and Karl August Graf von Platen. These rather overwrought texts add up to a kind of slimmed-down Winterreise, and they catch the spirit of the still-young Brahms with his strong passions, elegantly controlled. The Heine settings, which come from several different sets of lieder, are not that often heard and are in some ways the most compelling of the group here.

Sometimes great things are worth waiting for… It has been nearly ten years since the renowned Philadelphia Orchestra made new recordings available on a regular and worldwide basis. This is Ondine's first release in its new groundbreaking partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra, which calls for a minimum of three recordings to be released per year (for more information click here). The partnership agreement has attracted international media attention, including major articles throughout the international press (e.g. The Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2005; Gramophone, July 2005).

These exceptionally beautiful reappraisals are likely to divide listeners. Bruno Philippe’s command of the instrument can scarcely be gainsaid – his tone is simply glorious – but prizing lyricism and restraint over drama in late Prokofiev is not without risks…There’s Mendelssohnian delicacy and poise in the coupling too, regular collaborator Tanguy de Williencourt offering tactful rather than clangorous support.

This Albert Roussel disc couples the Third Symphony with one of the composer's most popular pieces, the complete music for the one-act pantomime ballet Le Festin de l'araignée. This recording completes a cycle of three releases featuring the four symphonies and two ballets by the French composer, performed by the Orchestre de Paris and music director Christoph Eschenbach. This series has contributed to the rediscovery and recent revival of the great French composer's music.

This Albert Roussel disc couples the Second Symphony with one of the composer's most popular pieces, the complete ballet music for Bacchus et Ariane. It is the first in a cycle of three releases featuring the four symphonies and two ballets by the French composer, performed by the Orchestre de Paris and Christoph Eschenbach.

“Kurt Rydl crowns a fine stage career with a gloriously eccentric impersonation of La Roche…The singing honours belong entirely to Angelika Kirchschlager as Clairon.” (BBC Music Magazine). “this Countess's preference for 'Ton' over 'Wort' is clear from the start…The greatest pleasure of the performance, for me, undoubtedly comes in the wonderful playing of the Staatsoper orchestra, the sweet, tender strings and the mellifluous horns in particular; and Christoph Eschenbach conducts a leisurely and loving account of Strauss's gorgeous score.” (Gramophone Magazine)

For a work composed originally as independent items, Roussel's impressionist First Symphony (1904-06) works surprisingly well. True, its structure is unorthodox, each of the four movements – which form a seasonal cycle from winter to autumn – larger than its predecessor, but it all flows together remarkably well, adding up to rather more than a picturesque set of tonepoems or suite. Small wonder it so impressed early audiences.

Christoph Eschenbach goes into raptures when he speaks about recording Brahms with his Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin:” They were the ideal partner for the Brahms cycle! A lot of ideas, which I was happy to incorporate into my overall concept, derived from the musicians themselves. And they in turn were interested in my approach.” Eschenbach sees the musicians of the orchestra as the perfect counterpart to his love of Brahms. “The Konzerthaus Orchestra has fabulous soloists, especially in the woodwinds and the horn department. Furthermore, their string sound is very ‘Brahmsian’. We very quickly came to an agreement as to how Brahms should sound.”

Christoph Eschenbach's superb live performance provides a refreshingly vital alternative to the prevailing trend toward stodgy Bruckner interpretation. Eschenbach shows himself a supremely assured Brucknerian, directing his excellent Houston Symphony players in a taut, flowing performance. The first movement has a fiery coda, the ebb and flow of the beautiful Adagio is expertly controlled, and the exultant finale has a drive and excitement rarely heard in modern Bruckner performances.

Fazıl Say is one of the world’s most prominent pianists but he is also a much-admired composer with a substantial catalogue of works. He combines both these accomplishments in his two Violin Sonatas, the first of which is suffused with Turkish motifs and dances, such as the horon. The second sonata takes as its theme the abuse of nature and the need to resist despoliation. His Violin Concerto is subtitled ‘1001 Nights in the Harem’ and is full of rich melodies and atmosphere, and features an array of Turkish percussion instruments.

200 years ago, on May 26th 1821, today's Berlin Concert Hall was inaugurated as “Königliches Schauspielhaus”. Destroyed as “Preußisches Staatstheater” during World War II, the building, located in eastern Berlin, was rebuilt during GDR times and reopened as “Konzerthaus” in 1984. The premiere of Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz on June 18th 1821 was a highlight of the opening year. The work became his most popular opera and one of the key works of the 19th century. A few days later, the composer (who died at the age of only 40 in 1826), had another piece premiered at the “Königliches Schauspielhaus”: his brilliant “Concert Piece for Piano and Orchestra op.79”. This year the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, with its principal conductor Christoph Eschenbach, will be celebrating these historic events. Weber holds a special place in the life of the great German conductor and pianist, as Der Freischütz was the first opera he saw at the age of ten. Eschenbach is being joined in this program, which combines overtures, arias and the famous concert piece, by two artists who reside at the Konzerthaus Berlin and are also Alpha artists: soprano Anna Prohaska and pianist Martin Helmchen.