The first half of the 19th century witnessed the blossoming of the Russian seven-string guitar (tuned D G B d g b d'). During that time, an exquisite repertoire for the instrument was created, which departs significantly from the Western European guitar tradition. This compact disc is the world's pioneer recording of selections from that repetoire on original instruments. The performance is historically informed and based on a careful study of Russian 19th century guitar techniques. The pieces included represent the individual styles of eleven composers - ranging from "giants" such as Sychra and Vysotsky to less prolific ones like Alferiev and Palevich, of whom we have only a handful of pieces. This recording displays the variety, elegance and wit of the Russian guitar tradition as well as its technical and musical specifity.

In the Art of the Fugue, his last great work, Bach brings to bear all conceivable contrapuntal artistry and inventiveness, and sets the result in a planned architectural layout.This new recording was made by Samuel Kummer on the magnificent Baroque organ of the Wenzelskirche in Naumburg, built in 1746 by Zacharias Hildebrandt, at whose acceptance Bach had been present as an expert.Never before has this instrument been captured so convincingly in terms of sound, and for the first time the sound of the organ can now be enjoyed in a multi-channel surround recording.

Jazz music from great italian movies composed by the famous film composers Piero Umiliani, Piero Piccioni Armando Trovaioli, Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, Michel Legrand, Manuel De Sica, Benedetto Ghiglia and Goffredo Petrassi as well as pioneering musicians such as Giorgio Gaslini, Chet Baker, here are some of the earliest jazz soundtracks that emerged from the golden age of 'Commedia All'Italiana' through to cult experimental cinema.

Enrico Caruso was an Italian operatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles from the Italian and French repertoires that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. One of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded, Caruso made 247 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920, which made him an international popular entertainment star.

Following the release of Threads of Gold in February 2017, we’re delighted to present a second recording devoted to Tudor and Jacobean sacred choral music from the Choir of York Minster, conducted by Robert Sharpe.

Our Leo Fall cycle continues with Die Rose von Stambul. This operetta in three acts offers music that is full of feeling. This highly emotional work celebrated its premiere with great success at the Theater an der Wien in 1916. Die Rose von Stambul’s 422 straight performances made it the most successful operetta in the history of the Theater an der Wien, next to Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow. Within the shortest time performances followed throughout Central Europe. However, like Emmerich Kálmán’s The Csárdás Princess, it did not become an international success – primarily because of World War I, since the theaters of the Allied countries had stopped staging German-language works.Achmed Bey, the son of a Turkish minister, is married to Kondja, “The Rose of Stamboul”. However, she has exchanged letters with a passionate novelist and fallen in love with him. What she does not suspect: none other than her husband is behind this pseudonym – which provides plenty of opportunities for the expression of emotions – rendered in the Viennese waltz mode (“Ein Walzer muss es sein”) or tunes of Oriental flair.

The first volume of the premiere recordings of Jurgis Karnavičius’ (1884–1941) string quartets performed by the Vilnius String Quartet resulted in a growing number of excellent album reviews. It included the composer's romantic and folkmusic-inspired first two quartets. This second volume includes the composer’s last two quartets: Nos. 3 & 4 which are more expressive and modern in nature. Karnavičius wrote his four impressive string quartets during his study and teaching years in St. Petersburg during the 1910s and 1920s, filling the chronological and stylistic gap between the String Quartets of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.

"I have always loved to travel, and all the music on this album is inspired by that love. The pieces selected are based both on my actual journeys and on travels as yet only imagined." (Marc Satterwhite) Marc Satterwhite's music has been performed in diverse venues all over the United States, as well as in Europe, England, Australia, the Americas, South Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, China and South Korea. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and Indiana University and was for several years a professional orchestral bassist before switching his emphasis to composition. He has taught in Texas, Indiana and Michigan and is Professor of Composition and Music Theory at the University of Louisville School of Music where, in addition to his teaching duties, he directs the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition.

The first two volumes of Anne-Marie McDermott's Mozart piano concerto cycle with the Odense Symfoniorkester have received a superb critical reception. Volume 3 of the series hears the great American pianist in Mozart's final piano concerto, K. 595, paired with Mozart's sparkling, heartbreaking E-flat concerto, K. 449. The Odense Symfoniorkester is led by the German conductor, Sebastian Lang-Lessing.

More Experience is Polish band founded in end of 80`s as a psychedelic project inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane and others. Now, it`s a studio project realised by Piotr Dudzikowski and his brothers and siters in music.

Vangelis Katsoulis' new album entitled "Allusion" is released by Metronomos, with 11 new compositions performed by the Takis Farazis Trio, consisting of the skilled musicians : Takis Farazis on piano, Petros Varthakouris on double bass and Thanos Hatzianagnostou on drums.

On Natura Morta, Sven Wunder is exploring art as a bridge between nature and the human ability to judge and observe in eleven musical compositions with brightly colored textures and an emphasis on vibrant melodies.

Welcome back to our dope lil universe. We’re stoked to announce Cookie Stars, the second album from one of Raw Tapes’ most impressive instrumental lineups, the Duo Brothers. Visionary local staples Sol Monk and Yonatan Levy have taken the cool from their debut album to another level, lifting off into “spaceship jazz” territory.

Like Gilels, Brendel treats the Op. 35 Variations as far more than a poor relation of the Eroica Symphony finale. His approach has less of the urgent, seemingly improvisatory thrust which makes the Gilels DG performance (on LP only) so compelling, but the sharpness with which he characterizes each variation is a delight, each time bringing a moment of revelation, and often relating this essentially middle-period work to much later inspirations. The six Bagatelles of Op. 126 equally find Brendel giving these fragments a weight, concentration and seriousness to reflect what else Beethoven was writing at the time. There is a gruffness of expression with charm eliminated. The third Bagatelle is the more moving for its simple gravity, and only in the final one of the group does Brendel allow himself to relax in persuasive warmth. Fur Elise makes a simple, haunting prelude to the group and the six Ecossaises a jolly postude with Brendel evoking the bluff jollity of Austrian dance music.

The 24 Preludes and the last Sonatas of Dmitri Kabalevsky figure amongst the finest piano works of the 1940s, ranking with those of Prokofiev and Shostakovich. The first Sonata is reminiscent of the first Scriabin, whereas the second and the third are ‘war pieces’ with frankly virtuosic pages. Gilels, to whom the work was dedicated, was the first to play the second (1946), Yakov Zak, his senior and alter ego, newly rediscovered on PRD350054, the third in 1947. Christoph Deluze has become well known for his interpretation of the 24 Preludes: here he groups the 3 Sonatas and confirms their impressive stature, their intense lyricism and rythmic vigour. A demonstrative programme for those fond of spectacular and symphonic piano.