EMI's Best Chopin 100 is a six-disc anthology that covers the essential keyboard works of Frédéric Chopin with considerable depth and coherence, making it one of the best imaginable introductions for the budget-conscious beginner.

The RCO's performance history of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony is strangely uneven. Already three years after its completion the symphony was performed by Willem Mengelberg in a programme that also boasted the composer as soloist in his own Piano Concerto No. 3. After that the symphony was performed again in 1921 and then there's a gap of 59 years. From 1980 on no less than conductors (including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kirill Kondrashin and Kurt Sanderling) put it on the RCO's music stands. Its latest RCO incarnation proved to be an ideal performance. ith Mariss Jansons at the helm, heart and mind of this piece were totally balanced and the opulence of the RCO's sound at the Concertgebouw was perfectly suited to Rachmaninoff's most beloved symphony.

World-renowned cellist Zuill Bailey has been called One of the finest cellists alive today. (Classical Net) This is Baileys third release on the Steinway label. For this programme, he has chosen two of Sergei Prokofievs mature and majestic works. The Sinfonia Concertante is one of the most difficult and exciting works for cello and orchestra. The piece premiered on February 18, 1952, and was dedicated to Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

À travers quelques chefs-d'oeuvre de la littérature pour violoncelle seul, Emmanuelle Bertrand nous convie à voyager au coeur des langages d'inspiration populaire. Lorsque la musique s'approprie les idiomes propres à chaque culture, repoussant les limites instrumentales, modelant et déstructurant les règles au profit d'une expression identitaire, le violoncelle "parle" et nous emmène au-delà des frontières, là où l'âme des peuples prend racine. Ce titre est paru pour la première fois en 2000/11.

Durant une époque sombre de l’histoire de l’Irlande, Turlough O’Carolan apporta un renouveau à la musique de son pays, une sorte de joie malicieuse qui semblait faire défaut auparavant, et de ci de là un petit rayon de soleil italien. Avec lui, les noms de belles dames et d’hommes valeureux revivent dans le charme et la grâce de ses mélodies.

At a spectacular value and an amazingly low price, the 100 Best Series offers an impressive assortment of well-known and beloved classical repertoire ranging from symphonies, concertos, and solo instrumental works to chamber music, songs, and operas.

The final volume of pianist Paavali Jumppanen’s acclaimed cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas.

I EAT THE SUN AND DRINK THE RAIN is a work for choir and live electronics. Sven Helbig has created a concept album in which he appears both as composer and as author of almost all the song texts. Over the course of ten pieces he weaves a loose narrative that addresses pressing questions of the present day. The powerfully resonant work suspends delicate choral passages above pulsating synthesizers. Sublime a cappella chords spread out above digitally created sounds, in perfect balance between choir and electronics.

Enfin un beau programme musical méditatif autour de Noël ! Tous ces arrangements pour orchestre de chambre, mis en couleur de façon remarquable par l'Orchestre d'Auvergne, s'appuient sur des mélodies écrites ou jouées à l'occasion de Noël. Avec des compositions s'étalant sur près de 10 siècles, nous découvrons comment certaines se sont ancrées au plus profond de notre culture. Inutile de décrire Craig Léon, musicien éclectique et producteur légendaire (Blondie, Les Ramones..), qui signe cet album inspiré, dont l'ambiance moderne et feutrée ravira un public très large. Un véritable disque de Noël Zen et la fameuse prise de Son "Full Dynamic Audio" du Label Aparté.

My World Facts: His first album of his own compositions - just in time for his 60th birthday gives the most intimate insight into Nigel`s fascinatingly diverse musical life. In the cycle Dedications he pays tribute to his musical role models: to his teachers and mentors Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern, the multi-genre violinist Stéphane Grappelli and Mark O Connor, whom Kennedy rates as one of the most important violinists alive today. He also mentions jazz guitarist Jaros aw mietana, whom Kennedy is close to as a result of his frequent visits to Cracow.

The five most brilliant concertos for violin, all penned before the age of 19! Mozart was not even 15 years old when he began composing violin concertos that would serve as a backdrop at Salzburg receptions. An insatiable drive for independence would however lead the young Konzertmeister to overtly challenge musical forms, innovate with genres, humour and frivolity, all of which can be heard in this delightful first collaboration between Isabelle Faust and the musicians of Il Giardino Armonico.

Sebastian de Albero (1722-1756) was a highly talented Spanish composer, who eventually attained a prestigious position at the Royal Court of Ferdinand VI in Madrid, alongside with Domenico Scarlatti and Carlos Seixas. With his early death at age 34 a brilliant career came to a sudden end.

The inspired decision by cellist and composer Giovanni Sollima to investigate the instrumental music of his eighteenth-century counterpart, Giovanni Battista Costanzi, is yielding its first recording with a new Glossa release of cello sonatas.

At a spectacular value and an amazingly low price, the 100 Best Series offers an impressive assortment of well-known and beloved classical repertoire ranging from symphonies, concertos, and solo instrumental works to chamber music, songs, and operas. Five exhilarating new additions join the 100 Best series

The first CD in this 6-disc set, Classic Tango, is a collection of authentic performances by the original tango orchestras of José Basso, Anibal Troilo, Francisco Canaro and others of the most popular tangos including `La cumparsita,' `Adiós muchachos' and `Mi Buenos Aires querido.'