French pianist Monique Haas recorded the piano works of Debussy and Ravel twice, once in the late '50s and early '60s for Deutsche Grammophon and again in the late '60s and early '70s for Erato. The later recordings are released here in this six disc set from Warner Classics. As on the earlier set, Haas' performances are elegantly stylish, technically impeccable, consummately musical, and quintessentially French. Pick any piece by either composer at random, and you'll see. Try her bright but sensual Suite Bergamasque with its ravishing Clair de lune or her brilliant and visionary Études with their astounding concluding Pour les accords. Or try her recklessly virtuosic Gaspard de la nuit with its frightening Scarbo or her sweetly swaying Valses nobles et sentimentales with its heartrending Épilogue. There are only two meaningful differences between Haas' recordings: in the earlier performance, she is more passionate and impetuous while in the later performances she is more measured and thoughtful.

Though the saxophone has never found a regular place in the orchestra it has nevertheless captured the interest of a long line of composers; a square peg doesn't need to fit into any orchestral round hole when it is centre-stage. It is, too, one of the instruments whose technique has been advanced by players of jazz—a field in which John Harle remains active. There are now exponents of awesome ability, worthy of the attention of serious composers such as, in this recording, Bennett—who is also given to crossing the musical tracks.

Combining works by Debussy and Poulenc on an album may, to some, seem a bit ironic seeing as at one point, the latter railed against the music of the former. Poulenc was later to change his tune, though, and eventually became one of Debussy's most ardent admirers. The two were greatly responsible for a new direction in French music, which, ironically, required both of them to look to composers of the past for inspiration.

Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt has devoted many creative energies to Bach, and it shows in this reading of Debussy favorites (and a few less common works): Hewitt's is a rather precise and tempo-consistent Debussy, light on the atmospherics but with technical agility to spare. What you'll think of this may well depend on how you see the nature of Debussy's break with the French Romantic tradition: did it involve a dryness of expression, or is the usual hazy vision the right one?

Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht's six suites of piano pieces entitled La Nursery are among the most unjustly neglected masterworks of French impressionism. All but the third and fourth suites first appeared in 1905 and undoubtedly provided direct inspiration for Claude Debussy's Children's Corner, composed in 1908 and likewise included as filler on this fine ATMA Classique disc featuring Canadian pianist Lise Boucher. These solo versions of Inghelbrecht's signature work have not appeared on compact disc before – the earliest versions of these works were intended as teaching pieces and were scored out for piano four-hands.

From Charlie Parker to Piazzolla: the recorder as you've never heard it before! Lucie Horsch's new album 'Origins' is a collection of music rooted in folk cultures from all around the world, personally sourced and curated by Lucie, presented here in newly commissioned arrangements and transcriptions for the recorder. The tracks feature a variety of supporting musicians, including the trailblazing genre-bending collective Fuse Ensemble, a quintet from the GRAMMY Award-winning Dutch orchestra LUDWIG; acclaimed Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe; bandoneonist Carel Kraayenhof and Kora player Bao Sissoko.

This limited edition presents three outstanding albums by Víkingur Ólafsson in a box set including additional fan content and deluxe packaging. With three albums on Deutsche Grammophon so far Ólafsson is known as one of the most exciting pianists of today and widely acknowledged for his “individuality of spirit and intelligence of execution” (Limelight Magazine).

Lilya Zilberstein has already taken on some of the virtuoso pillars of the repertoire for DG—Brahms's Paganini Variations, the Mussorgsky Pictures, Rachmaninov's Third Concerto and so it is fascinating to hear her in music of a more subtle evocation and delicacy. And although her Debussy and Ravel are hardly consistent or to the manner born, they are rarely less than individual or distinguished. Like other Russian pianists before her she places greater emphasis on the music's sensuous and expressive warmth than on its formal clarity. Her response to say, ''Le soiree dans Grenade'' (from Estampes) is richly coloured and inflected (a reminder, perhaps, of Falla's awe of Debussy's Hispanicism) and in ''Jardins sous la pluie'' her virtuosity evokes a coldly drenched and windswept garden its flowers momentarily bejewelled by passing sunlight. She is also highly successful in the more objective patterning of Pour le piano, making the opening Prelude's fortissimo chording and shooting-star glissandos resonate with unusual power.

Our collection is called “Caprice” in honor of Thierry Lancino’s Cinq Caprices, adapted for flute and piano especially for this recording. The collection is an homage to Pierre Boulez and his life-changing, challenging, ironic, and capricious "Sonatine pour flute et piano", written in 1946. Both Paavali Jumppanen and I had the great good luck to work with Pierre Boulez in our formative years, so when we started to perform together it was obvious that the Sonatine would be a central part of our repertoire and that a recording would follow.

The Poulenc Violin Sonata is still a relative rarity on record. I'm baffled by this, as it is one of Poulenc's most unique and musically rewarding works. This performance by Lin and Crossley is excellent; indeed they nearly match the superlative recording made by Kolja Blacher and Eric Le Sage for RCA. The brighter, more lively RCA recording adds a little extra sparkle and energy to the latter. However, in both instances, each violinist has the benefit of being joined by pianists who have made a specialty of Poulenc.

Eugène Ysaÿe, a violin virtuoso admired by all his contemporaries, was an inheritor of what has justly been considered as the Belgian school of violin, whose ascendancy can be traced back to the beginning of the 19th century. His work as a composer, however, is much less well known today and it is this facet of his extraordinarily active life that we will explore here. He composed many different types of works; here we present his works for solo violin and orchestra, including two movements of violin concertos which are now available on record for the first time, and his chamber music.

In August 2021, as the Salzburg Festival made a meticulously planned return to full capacity, Evgeny Kissin drew a sell-out crowd to the city’s Grosses Festspielhaus. He treated his audience to a strikingly original programme of works by Berg, Chopin, Gershwin and, to the surprise of some, Khrennikov. A generous selection of encores featured Mendelssohn and Debussy, as well as more Chopin and one of Kissin’s own compositions.

This album - a collaboration between two of the biggest names in classical music - celebrates the fine art of concealment, of holding private passions just beneath the surface until they erupt. 'Secret Love Letters' sees the violinist explore some of the most romantic music ever written. In this, her first recording with a US orchestra, she is joined by The Philadelphia Orchestra and its inspirational music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin - with whom she has performed live many times - as well as by young Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili. Together they embark on a journey that spans everything from forbidden love to romance seen from the perspective of old age, featuring Szymanowski's 'First Violin Concerto', Chausson's 'Poème' and works by Franck and Debussy.

The American pianist Lorin Hollander was only 14 years old in 1958 when he recorded his first album for RCA, a personal selection of “22 Favorites” entitled Discovering the Piano. Its success led to a sequel the following year. Over the next eight years he produced an acclaimed series of releases for the Red Label, establishing an international career which would eventually encompass more than 2,500 appearances as a pianist, conductor and passionate advocate for arts education. Hollander has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras and collaborated with conductors such as Bernstein, Szell, Ormandy, Leinsdorf, Previn, Haitink, Ozawa and Mehta. Sony Classical is now pleased to present a new 8-disc box set offering Lorin Hollander’s complete RCA discography for the first time on CD.