Franz Schubert created an immense oeuvre during his short life, plagued by money issues, loneliness and a fatal syphilis infection. His music clearly expresses his personal troubles, but equally his love for life, resulting in some of the most lyrical and delightful melodies of Western classical music. Schubert Famous Pieces brings together several of his most beloved works, from the symphonies, late piano sonatas and chamber music to songs such as Erlkonig and Ave Maria. This compilation also contains a string quartet arrangement from the Signum Quartett of his song Der Tod und das Madchen that has never been released before.

In Symphony No. 6 ‘Last Letter’, Ross Harris explores settings of four poems by Vincent O’Sullivan, interlinking them with three musical interludes. The darkness of the subject matter draws from the composer music of powerful and at times despairing intensity. Face was written as the First World War centenary approached its conclusion and confronts the trauma of facial injuries suffered by soldiers in the conflict. Choruses and solos are punctuated by orchestral commentary, the music freely mixing tonal and atonal elements to heighten the expressive gravity of the personal tragedies depicted.

The comic-heroic romp Matilde di Shabran was Rossini’s last commission for the theatres of Rome, the city where he’d had great successes such as Il barbiere di Siviglia. Rossini took advantage of the agile, sparkling style of librettist Jacopo Ferretti to create a narrative in which the ferocious Corradino, a declared misogynist, is introduced to the resourceful Matilde, who succeeds in melting his iron heart and winning his love. This premiere recording revives the original 1821 Rome version, which was conducted at the last minute by Paganini, and caused brawling in the streets between Rossini’s admirers and detractors.

Sofia Gubaidulina, one of the most distinct composers of the present time, says of herself that she is “a daughter of two worlds, whose soul lives in the music of both the West and East”. From her father’s side, her life was entered by the world of Islamic culture, while her mother introduced her to Christianity, in which she found her identity in the Orthodox faith. Her quest for a singular style was strongly influenced by the legacies of J. S. Bach and Anton Webern, as well as Dmitri Shostakovich, who encouraged her to remain herself and “continue down the mistaken path” for which she was criticised by the guardians of aesthetic correctness in the Soviet Union. Gubaidulina’s personal story is one of a struggle to live in truth, conducted with calm, patience, perseverance and inner conviction. The five string quartets represent a singular journey towards a vision of freedom beyond the borders of any system: she extracts the material from beyond major-minor tonality, using micro-intervals, serial techniques, aleatory elements, unusual playing methods, thus revealing previously unthought-of acoustic possibilities of instruments, including the space itself, the movement of musicians, etc. The Stamic Quartet, an ensemble representing the famous Czech quartet school, is an attentive interpreter of the first complete recording.

Marco Antonio Centorio was born around 1600 in the Piedmontese town of Vercelli, in northern Italy. He began his studies of music and the humanities at the Collegio degli Innocenti, an institution founded in the late 15th century to supply Vercelli Cathedral with singers for religious services. Centorio, who had a fine treble voice, was one of the six pueri cantus taken in and educated at the Collegio. When his voice broke he moved to Milan, where he studied organ and counterpoint. By 1618 Centorio was already organist at Vercelli Cathedral, in 1628 he was appointed chapel master in the Cathedral, a position he held until his early death in 1638.

Above the album worked the 'Dresdner Kreuzchor, Dresdner Philharmonie, Christian Schmitt, Ensemble Violini Capricciosi - Baroque Christmas', and his release took place on 2020. The album has got songs with a total duration of more than an hour. A compilation is a compilation of original music.

Paul Ji, winner of the Prodiges competition in 2019, is a 16-year old pianist, born in Chicago, USA to a Chinese family and raised in France since the age of five.His first album, contains a selection of 16 Romantic masterpieces for the piano.In his note for the booklet he explains: “ I want to bring to you and your family consolation with Liszt’s “Consolation No. 3”, love with “Liebestraum No.3”, empathy with Chopin’s “Tristesse” Étude, illustrating the intense suffering evoked by Scriabin’s 12th Étude, relief with a brilliant Chopin waltz, peace with Tchaikovsky’s Meditation, and purity of long ago memories with a dream of Schumann’s Childhood Scenes and Debussy’s Children’s Corner.Finally, I want to thank the heroes of this pandemic, the medical care workers who fought so hard for us. My Chopin “Heroic Polonaise” is for you!To thank the fabulous “Prodiges” which gave me this opportunity, I thought of representing the other categories of Singing and Dance which “Prodiges” wonderfully unites. Thus, I include Verdi’s “Rigoletto” Opera paraphrased by Liszt and Tchaikovsky’s “Pas de Deux” from the Nutcracker Ballet, as all forms of art are connected through our senses.”

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Serenade for String Orchestra in C Major, Op. 48, Edward Elgar Serenade for String Orchestra, Op. 20, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Serenade in G Major, K. 525 “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”, Daniel Hope Zürcher Kammerorchester.

In honor of CPE Bach's 300th birthday, hänssler CLASSIC will be releasing an exciting series of recordings dedicated to the music of this well known but hitherto neglected Bach son during the first 3 months of 2014. At the beginning there are the so-called “Hamburg” symphonies Wq 182, interpreted with great sensitivity and bite, when necessary, by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra under the renowned conductor and former violist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Wolfram Christ. Maestro Christ sees these works as expressive pieces, open to multiple interpretations that invite the listener to experience them as almost Romantic in their gesture and content. Deciding on a fortepiano continuo instrument is not only a historically informed decision, but contributes to a perfectly balanced overall sound.

Perhaps best-known for his distinctive vocal style, Australian polymath Nick Cave here steps into the spotlight as librettist rather than performer, for a second operatic project with Belgian composer Nicholas Lens. Having collaborated on Shell Shock in 2014, they joined forces again during the global lockdown to create a new work, L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S.. At Lens’s request, Cave penned 12 litanies – “petitions to a divine maker” – simple, moving texts which the composer then wove into what he calls a “modest chamber opera of sleeping dreams”.

Pianist Vanessa Benelli Mosell and cellist Henri Demarquette find common ground between Philip Glass and Rachmaninov in this release that revels in both composers passion for sonic storytelling. Presenting a program of personal, dramatic and spiritual music, Mosell and Demarquette perform these selections with intimate ardor.

Morgen is a collection designed to share the pleasures of beautiful and emotional songs and these melodic lines transfer easily to cello. Joyce glories in the soaring vocal phrases with a rich vibrato-laden tone and the absence of words is forgotten by the listener. De Lisle’s pianism is subtle and spacious and the players work together with a flexible intimacy ideally suited to the music.The opening seven songs by Brahms are a highlight. For this music full of passionate grief and poignant yearning Joyce uses a huge range of timbre and dynamics, de Lisle a light and easy flow in accompaniment. The Wiegenlied, famous as “Brahms’ Lullaby”, ends the group, the cello in the foreground as singer and both musicians playing with loving gentleness.

Winner of the Citiy of Alessandria Competition, French guitar virtuosa Gaëlle Solal delivers a buoyant, heart-filled, Villa-Lobos-based programme she has put together after several years of research and writing her own arrangements. Works of the great Brazilian composer alternate with delicate and exuberant compositions of Pixinguinha, Nazareth, Jobim and dyens, among others. A gem that merges Brazilian folk with Classical music into a unique, passionate album.

A rendition of a tango operita, commissioned by the Argentinian Ministry of Culture (this rendition anyway), was revived by violinist Gidon Kremer, who had such a love for the original LPs from Piazzolla and Horacio Ferrer that he wanted to recreate the music. Ferrer was kept on as El Duende (the Goblin) – the role that he created when he wrote the libretto thirty years earlier. Regrettably, Piazzolla had passed on prior to the remake. Nonetheless, the arrangements and orchestrations are remarkable. The suffering and the passion of Maria (the main character in the show) are perfectly portrayed by the tango. The music changes forms as her character progresses, taking on traditional tangos, modern tangos, milongas, waltzes, and other styles to reflect changes in Maria. The music is always well-composed. This is an opera for the display of modern music, and the tango of Piazzolla is modern music at its finest.

Ella Zonis Mahler’s compilation of these Iranian classical music performers was originally issued on Folkways Records in 1966. Ten of the twelve model melodic patterns (dastgahs) are represented here, in a variety of instrumental and vocal performances.