As well as being one of the finest rock singers of the 1960s, Janis Joplin was also a great blues singer, making her material her own with her wailing, raspy, supercharged emotional delivery. First rising to stardom as the frontwoman for San Francisco psychedelic band Big Brother & the Holding Company, she left the group in the late '60s for a brief and uneven (though commercially successful) career as a solo artist. Although she wasn't always supplied with the best material or most sympathetic musicians, her best recordings, with both Big Brother and on her own, are some of the most exciting performances of the era.

In popular mythology Haydn’s name is far less closely associated with the piano sonata than with the string quartet or symphony. Though a more than competent pianist (one writer in London described his playing of the brilliant fortepiano solo in the Symphony No 98 as ‘neat and distinct’), he was by his own admission no ‘wizard’ on the keyboard, and unlike Mozart and Beethoven never wrote sonatas for his own performance. Yet the keyboard remained central to Haydn’s creative process. His morning routine would invariably begin with him trying out ideas, for whatever medium, on the clavichord, the harpsichord or, from the 1780s, the fortepiano; and he composed prolifically for keyboard through most of his adult life, beginning with the harpsichord works he produced for aristocratic pupils during his ‘galley years’ in Vienna and culminating in the three great sonatas (Nos 50–52 in Hoboken’s catalogue) inspired by the sonorous Broadwood instruments he encountered on his London visits.

This album offers a new approach to the character of Scheherazade, with Rimsky-Korsakov’s musical masterpiece transcribed for the forces of Ensemble K and a previously unpublished text, freely adapted from the Thousand and One Nights and ancient love poems, which tells the story of Scheherazade. The Franco-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani plays Scheherazade, while Kristin Winters is her sister, Dinarzad: ‘For me, this story is a literary and historical treasure of humanity. But our collective imagination has seen Scheherazade as either a seductress or a submissive woman who told stories to survive. The greatness of this character goes far beyond that, and in fact represents the ancient figure of the “hero”, or rather the heroine!’, says Simone Menezes, who is artistic director of this project. For this second collaboration with Alpha Classics (after Amazônia, ALPHA990), she presents two versions of the programme, one with music and texts, the other with Rimsky-Korsakov’s music alone.

This album offers a new approach to the character of Scheherazade, with Rimsky-Korsakov’s musical masterpiece transcribed for the forces of Ensemble K and a previously unpublished text, freely adapted from the Thousand and One Nights and ancient love poems, which tells the story of Scheherazade. The Franco-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani plays Scheherazade, while Kristin Winters is her sister, Dinarzad: ‘For me, this story is a literary and historical treasure of humanity. But our collective imagination has seen Scheherazade as either a seductress or a submissive woman who told stories to survive. The greatness of this character goes far beyond that, and in fact represents the ancient figure of the “hero”, or rather the heroine!’, says Simone Menezes, who is artistic director of this project. For this second collaboration with Alpha Classics (after Amazônia, ALPHA990), she presents two versions of the programme, one with music and texts, the other with Rimsky-Korsakov’s music alone.

GRAMMY-nominated, Platinum-certified singer-songwriter, Cassadee Pope has announced the release of her upcoming album, Hereditary, out July 12. The album marks The Voice winner’s first full length following her shift from country back to her pop punk roots. The announcement pairs with the release of her latest single and music video for “Three of Us.”

In 1874, Heinrich von Herzogenberg (1843-1900) hosted a Brahms festival in Leipzig, where the two men became friends. Brahms (1833-1897) also met Julius Röntgen (1855-1932) there. Subsequently, the three men rubbed shoulders in what became known as the Brahms circle.

12 years after his album entitled ‘Italian Virtuosi of the Chitarrone’ (BIS-1899), Jakob Lindberg returns to his magnificent theorbo, specially built for him by the luthier Michael Lowe, based on an instrument preserved in the Musée de la Musique in Paris. One of the most spectacular instruments of the early baroque owing to its length and great number of strings, the theorbo was originally designed to accompany the voice, but is also ideally suited to solo performance. For this disc, Lindberg has chosen pieces by Robert de Visée, one of the great French masters of the lute, theorbo and guitar repertoire and a favourite of Louis XIV. The recording features dances as well as character pieces, including a moving ‘Plainte’ in memory of his two deceased daughters.

French lutenist Florent Marie's new solo album is dedicated to the music of John Dowland, one of the greatest composers ever for his instrument. The selection of pieces on this album deliberately includes both the sombre and melancholy as well as the more cheerful and uplifting pieces from the composer's oeuvre, creating a rich and colorful musical bouquet of works by the famous Elizabethan lute master.

This is a Kotaro Fukuma’s new album “Souvenirs de Chopin”, to be released on September 13, 2024. This is a special product celebrating the 20th anniversary of Kotaro Fukuma’s debut in Japan, and not only that, this is also his 20th album. Since winning the First Prize and the Chopin Prize at the 15th Cleveland International Piano Competition in 2003, he has continued to work as an international pianist, performing in a total of 37 countries, based in Japan and Europe. This album is the culmination of Fukuma’s 20-year career and includes many tracks that are “Souvenirs” of his own life.

Fernando Sor, an unparalleled figure in the classical guitar world, revolutionized guitar composition by emulating the rich textures of orchestral music. Educated at the prestigious Escolania de Montserrat and guided by Father Anselm Viola, Sor’s works reflect his profound understanding of counterpoint and polyphony, reminiscent of Haydn’s influence. His innovative techniques, from the use of natural harmonics to polyphonic textures, transformed the guitar into an instrument capable of producing a spectrum of orchestral sounds. This album with Xavier Díaz Latorre features some of Sor’s most exquisite pieces, including Les Folies d’Espagne, Op. 15 and Variations Brillantes sur un Air Favori de Mozart, Op. 9, showcasing his compositional brilliance and the evocative power of his music. Each track is a testament to Sor’s legacy, blending classical elegance with expressive depth, offering listeners an extraordinary auditory experience.

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001–1006) in the small German town of Köthen. During this period, between 1717 and 1723, he served as the conductor of a royal ensemble comprising accomplished musicians employed by Prince Leopold, a ruler renowned for his passion for music. It is believed that the autographs of three sonatas (in G minor, A minor and C major) and the three partitas (in B minor, D minor and E major) were written by Bach in 1720 during his tenure in Köthen. However, it is also possible that he had composed them earlier, in Weimar, where he had been employed as a court concertmaster; a professional violinist in the royal orchestra from 1714. Bach titled the pieces Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso accompagnato, which translates as Six Solos for Violin Without Bass Accompaniment. The title serves to blur the marked generic distinction between the groups of sonatas and partitas, as well as to emphasise the role of the solo violin in the composition, making a departure from the common Baroque practice of having the basso continuo accompaniment. It is noteworthy that the title page of the manuscript bears the note "Libro primo - Volume One," which may indicate that the six Suites for solo cello were "Libro secondo - Volume Two."

Peter Phillips has here deliberately paired two sharply contrasted parody Masses … the former … is marvellously bright and open and is given a correspondingly outgoing performance, while the latter, inflected with chromaticism and melodic intervals that constantly fall back on themselves, is darker-hued and more plaintive, a mood well captured here in the intensity of the singing. The recording, made in the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Salle, Norfolk is well handled and adds powerfully to these flexible, expressive and beautiful readings.

The current renaissance in conjunction with the works of Giovanni Simone Mayr is not surprising, but is certainly necessary. With Demetrio, he left to posterity a masterpiece that belongs on the great stages of the world. Mayr’s late work is a mixture of romantic anticipation, stylistic reminiscences of Mozart and Haydn, bel canto elements and a touch of Rossini, all worked into a unique form. Of particular note is Mayr’s melodic inventiveness. Here OehmsClassics presents a live performace of Demetrio recorded at the Moutier Festival (Switzerland) in June 2011.

This ensemble draws on the transparency and expressiveness of early wind instruments to paint fresh pictures of unexplored repertoire. The musicians have a unique rapport with the music of Janitsch and their aim is to bring his neglected masterworks to light.

“Rameau is one of the universal geniuses in European musical history, on the same level as Bach, Mozart and Haydn”, asserts conductor György Vashegyi.