One of today’s great pianists performs in a venue steeped in history: Grigory Sokolov, whose every recital is storied, at the Haydnsaal of Schloss Esterházy, Eisenstadt, where Joseph Haydn lived and worked for some three decades. Sokolov plays three Haydn sonatas, the Schubert Impromptus D 935, and a generous selection of encores, all in the spectacular hall in which Haydn himself would have performed countless times.

Normally, Mahler's Fourth Symphony is the one that you turn on for great background listening. It's beautiful, lyrical, and Mahler at his most mellow. But underneath its innocent exterior, there's a lot going on, and who better than technician Pierre Boulez to point out the mechanics? Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra deliver an impressive performance of this heavenly work that, on the surface, stays clear of romanticism (or, to some ears, rampant emotion). Instead, Boulez focuses on clarity throughout each and every passage. From his quick-tempoed opening movement to the heart-warming "We Enjoy Heaven's Delights" song of the fourth (performed here by soprano Juliane Banse)–Boulez slowly transitions from clinical to dramatic. It's a captivating, modernist interpretation that's thoroughly enthralling.

Auréolé d'une Victoire de la musique classique en 2003, le ténor franco-mexicain Rolando Villazón, né à Mexico en 1972, connaît la consécration internationale au festival de Salzbourg en 2007 dans La Traviata avec Anna Netrebko. Ce début de carrière fulgurant est interrompu par des problèmes de santé durant les deux saisons suivantes. Rolando Villazón fait un retour en fanfare à l'automne 2010 avec un opus consacré au répertoire populaire mexicain, ¡México!. En 2013, il célèbre par deux fois son compositeur fétiche Giuseppe Verdi à travers le Verdi de Deutsche Grammophon et les enregistrements plus anciens de Sings Verdi pour Virgin Classics. Partenaire régulier du chef d'orchestre Antonio Pappano, il chante sous sa direction dans une nouvelle production de Werther et un récital d'airs de concert de Mozart parus en 2012 et 2014. Parallèlement, Rolando Villazón poursuit sa collaboration avec Yannick Nézet-Séguin dans le cycle Mozart-Da Ponte (Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, L'enlèvement au sérail). En 2015, le récital Treasures of Bel Canto dévoile des mélodies plus ou moins connues de Verdi, Bellini, Donizetti et Rossini, tandis que Duets (2017) le voit donner la réplique à la basse russe Ildar Abdrazakov.

Auréolé d'une Victoire de la musique classique en 2003, le ténor franco-mexicain Rolando Villazón, né à Mexico en 1972, connaît la consécration internationale au festival de Salzbourg en 2007 dans La Traviata avec Anna Netrebko. Ce début de carrière fulgurant est interrompu par des problèmes de santé durant les deux saisons suivantes. Rolando Villazón fait un retour en fanfare à l'automne 2010 avec un opus consacré au répertoire populaire mexicain, ¡México!. En 2013, il célèbre par deux fois son compositeur fétiche Giuseppe Verdi à travers le Verdi de Deutsche Grammophon et les enregistrements plus anciens de Sings Verdi pour Virgin Classics. Partenaire régulier du chef d'orchestre Antonio Pappano, il chante sous sa direction dans une nouvelle production de Werther et un récital d'airs de concert de Mozart parus en 2012 et 2014. Parallèlement, Rolando Villazón poursuit sa collaboration avec Yannick Nézet-Séguin dans le cycle Mozart-Da Ponte (Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, L'enlèvement au sérail). En 2015, le récital Treasures of Bel Canto dévoile des mélodies plus ou moins connues de Verdi, Bellini, Donizetti et Rossini, tandis que Duets (2017) le voit donner la réplique à la basse russe Ildar Abdrazakov.

Gianandrea Noseda’s 2013 account of Verdi’s transcendent Requiem marks one of the most electrifying moments in Verbier Festival history. Soloists Maria Agresta, Daniela Barcellona, Piotr Beczala, and Ildar Abdrazakov deliver spellbinding performances. As do the singers of the Coro Teatro Regio Torino, and musicians of the Verbier Festival Orchestra. Joining together – from the hushed tones of the ‘Introit’ to the radiant cadence of the ‘Libera me’ – these forces conjure a journey of monumental power under Noseda’s expert direction. The recording of this indelible performance, available in both audio and film, will immerse audiences in a breathtaking voyage from despair to resurrection.

Drone Mass was commissioned by ACME in 2015 in celebration of its 10th anniversary and was premiered by the late J¢hann J¢hannsson, ACME, and Roomful of Teeth in the Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. According to J¢hannsson, "Drone Mass is a 60-minute contemporary oratorio which fuses the sounds of string quartet, electronics and vocals, and is inspired by texts from the Nag Hammadi library, sometimes referred to as the Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians."

William Steinberg was recognized as one of the world’s greatest interpreters of the Brahms Symphonies. “Luxurious sound … Above all, Steinberg makes his Brahms sing” is how the New York Times commented on the 4th symphony with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at the time of the original release in 1961. Remastered from the original tapes, the full set of his Brahms Symphonies will now be released on CD and for download & streaming. Set for release on 4 March and available for pre-order now.Listen to the first pre-release track ‘Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68: III un poco allegretto e grazioso’ now!

Dans son nouvel album, la jeune cantatrice américaine Nadine Sierra raconte sa propre histoire à travers trois héroïnes romantiques au fort caractère : Violetta (La Traviata), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) et Juliette (Roméo et Juliette). Comme elles, la soprano a lutté contre les conventions et la pression sociale pour pouvoir assumer son rêve : chanter, persuadée qu’elle était faite pour l’opéra (« Made for Opera »), ainsi que le clame fièrement le titre de cet enregistrement publié sur le label jaune.

Following the fantastic Chopin album earlier this year, we announce the release of pianist Jan Lisiecki’s upcoming album Night Music. With this album Lisiecki continues to explore the universe of night music with works by Mozart, Ravel & Schumann, and consist of selected tracks of his Würzburg recital in 2018.
The release is complemented by a visual album, and both are set to be released 18 February 2022.
Listen to the second pre-release track ‘Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, M.55 – III. Scarbo’ now!

Andris Nelsons and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig continue their award-winning Bruckner cycle. This time the Symphonies are coupled with the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. The album is set to be released 11 February 2022.“As a Bruckner interpreter, Nelsons is direct, clear-sighted and spacious, the performance guided with a sure hand and a sense of inevitability but also meticulous in observing tempo and dynamic markings…The warmth and sonority of the playing at the start is enthralling and the performance unfolds with character and excitement.” – Gramophone

This is the most beautiful of Mozart playing, his last piano concerto given here by Emil Gilels with total clarity. This is a classic performance, memorably accompanied by the VPO and Böhm. Suffice it to say that Gilels sees everything and exaggerates nothing, that the performance has an Olympian authority and serenity, and that the Larghetto is one of the glories of the gramophone. He's joined by his daughter Elena in the Double Piano Concerto in E flat, and their physical relationship is mirrored in the quality, and the mutual understanding of the playing: both works receive marvellous interpretations. We think Emil plays first, Elena second, but could be quite wrong. The VPO under Karl Böhm is at its best; and so is the quality of recording, with a good stereo separation of the two solo parts, highly desirable in this work.

Berlin-based violinist Daniel Hope's latest album takes a deep dive into the rich repertoire of American music, exploring its roots and distinctive qualities. 'We know a piece is from America the moment we hear it,' says Hope. 'But what makes music sound American?' Daniel Hope - America provides some answers, presenting works by composers as diverse as Leonard Bernstein, Sam Cooke, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Florence Price, Samuel A. Ward and Kurt Weill in outstanding new classical and jazz arrangements by Paul Bateman for solo violin in different combinations, with vocals, piano, jazz trio, string/chamber orchestra and percussion.

A l’écoute d’une Fanfare des Jeux Olympiques dirigée par un homme de 89 ans au sommet de sa forme, il est légitime de se demander qui d’un sportif de haut niveau ou de ce vaillant vieillard est le véritable athlète. Pour la première fois de sa vie, John Williams dirige le Berliner Philharmoniker et le concert débute par le thème qu’il a imaginé pour les J.O. d’été de Los Angeles de 1984. En parcourant le programme de ce Berlin Concert, on se rend compte qu’outre ce morceau épique, beaucoup de longs métrages dont Williams a composé la B.O. évoquent le surpassement de soi, l’effort infaillible et les dons exceptionnels. En mettant l’accent sur des films évoquant les facultés magiques d’un jeune orphelin (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) ou bien un super-héros à la force surhumaine (Superman), on se dit que la longévité exceptionnelle de la carrière si radieuse du musicien américain pourrait être le sujet d’un film dont il serait lui-même le compositeur. D’autres œuvres – que Williams joue plus rarement en concert – parlent elles aussi du dépassement de soi : l’ampleur romanesque et fougueuse de la B.O. de Far and Away accompagne les épreuves de deux Irlandais dans l’accomplissement de leur rêve américain, tandis que la musique moderne et atonale de Rencontre du troisième type éclaire d’une lumière étrange la foi d’une poignée d’hommes dans la croyance d’une civilisation venue d’ailleurs. Bien entendu, le présent album ne fait pas l’impasse sur les tubes incontournables de John Williams, depuis l’héroïque thème d’Indiana Jones jusqu’à l’Imperial March de Star Wars, en passant par les thèmes lyriques d’E.T. et de Jurassic Park. Avec ce nouveau chef invité, le Berliner Philharmoniker ajoute une nouvelle couleur à sa palette, à la fois exigeante, exaltante et populaire.

Hilary Hahn and Natalie Zhu prove they are an excellent duo team in their first recording together, featuring four of Mozart's sonatas for violin and piano. All dating from 1778 and later, Mozart treats the two instruments more equitably in these sonatas than in his earlier ones. Hahn and Zhu are technically flawless together. They match each other as closely as two different instruments can to achieve a true duet sound. Just as Hahn "digs" into her strings for extra friction in the opening of the Sonata in E minor, K. 304, Zhu aims for the same tone quality with her touch. The two use longer note values, enhanced by vibrato and pedal, to give the music a pretty sound. It's probably more than a Classical era purist would like, but this is by no means a Romantic interpretation. Their slow movements, particularly those of K. 376 and K. 526, have beautifully rounded, cantabile phrases. The Allegro con spirito of K. 301 has bright accents and intense diminuendos and crescendos, demonstrating that this music isn't all elegance and delicacy.

Award-winning violinist Daniel Hope presents an eclectic and accessible mix of neo-Baroque, minimalist and soundtrack favourites, including works and arrangements by contemporary masters like Ludovico Einaudi, Arvo Pärt, Karl Jenkins, Max Richter, Gabriel Prokofiev, Alex Baranowski and many more. “Spheres” features a curated collection of repertoire celebrating the idea, first brought forward by Pythagoras, that planetary movement creates its own kind of music, bringing beauty, harmony and simplicity to our complex solar system. This idea has fascinated philosophers, musicians, and mathematicians for centuries. Featured as main soloist on Max Richter’s acclaimed “Vivaldi Recomposed”, Hope is known for an effortless classical sound and intriguing approach to repertoire. Music of reflection, contemplation and relaxation.