Maurice Abravanel The state of Utah became a flourishing classical music scene thanks to the efforts of Maurice Abravanel, who served as music director of the Utah Symphony for 32 years starting in 1947. Although his peers might have looked at a posting in Utah as death in the boondocks, to Abravanel it was an opportunity to accomplish his dream of building up a permanent symphony orchestra of his own in a part of the world that was sorely lacking such a resource. Doing this meant turning down a lucrative contract with Radio City Music Hall, and even working without pay during the orchestra's most extreme periods of financial struggle.

An unmissable event for French and international artists, the NRJ MUSIC AWARDS once again confirm their place among the most important musical television ceremonies on a global scale. The official compilation of the ceremony and best-seller of the year, returns in 2024 with all your favorite hits. Between revelations, national stars and international phenomena, this edition brings together all the leading NRJ artists and the hits that marked the year in an exceptional 5 CD digipack.

Engegård Quartet Engegårdkvartetten is a popular Norwegian string quartet known for its incisive interpretations of the cornerstones of the standard quartet repertory, as well as works by both well-known and little-known Norwegian composers. Often billed as the Engegård Quartet in English-speaking countries, the group has toured heavily throughout Scandinavia, Europe, and the U.K. The Engegårdkvartetten, through several changes in membership, has a growing catalog of recordings, including 2023's Johan Kvandal: Complete String Quartets. Engegårdkvartetten was founded in Lofoten, Norway, in 2005 by violinist Arvid Engegård. Violinist Alte Sponberg, violist Juliet Jopling, and cellist Jan-Erik Gustafsson were the other original members of the ensemble. The group made its official debut at the 2006 Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival, an annual event for which Engegård serves as artistic director.

Claudio Arrau A patrician artist whose matinee-idol appearance was as elegant as his playing, Claudio Arrau achieved a major reputation for his performances of Brahms and Liszt. Indeed, few Romantic-period composers, from Beethoven onward, were beyond his grasp. In addition to that repertory, his Debussy was regarded by many connoisseurs as exemplary. Arrau believed that his abiding interest in psychoanalysis aided him in probing the intent of those whose works he performed. Certainly, Arrau's performances were marked by a balance between heart and intellect. Arrau was born in Chillán, Chile, on February 6, 1903. He received piano instruction from his mother at an early age, making his debut performance in Santiago at the age of five playing Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin.

Conductor and musicologist Jean-François Paillard was one of the most visible French exponents of Baroque music from the 1960s onward. Paillard earned a degree in mathematics from the Sorbonne, but he turned to music soon after. He attended the Paris Conservatory as a musicology student, where he won first prize in music history; he later studied conducting at the Salzburg Mozarteum with Igor Markevitch. He formed the Ensemble Jean-Marie Leclair in 1952, which was renamed the Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra the following year.

So much has been said and written about the Beatles – and their story is so mythic in its sweep – that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans. To start with the obvious, they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era, and they introduced more innovations into popular music than any other group of their time. Moreover, they were among the few artists of any discipline who were simultaneously the best at what they did and the most popular at what they did. Relentlessly imaginative and experimental, the Beatles grabbed hold of the international mass consciousness in 1964 and didn't let go for the next six years, always staying ahead of the pack in terms of creativity and never losing the ability to communicate their increasingly sophisticated ideas to a mass audience. Their supremacy as rock icons remains unchallenged to this day, decades after their breakup in 1970. It's hard to convey the scope of the Beatles' achievements in a mere paragraph or two.

James Ehnes picks up the viola for his first recording of the two Brahms sonatas Op.120 of 1894, in the composer's arrangement for viola and piano. Originally written for clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld, Brahms made subtle changes for the viola versions, and in so doing he greatly enriched the meagre viola sonata repertoire with these two late masterpieces. Schumann composed his Märchenbilder (Fairy Tale Pictures) in a few days in March 1851. They are imbued with a potent sense of fantasy - imagination runs riot, from melancholy to drama. James Ehnes plays on the 1696 'Achinto' Stradivari viola for this recording, courtesy of the Royal Academy of Music.

“The Vogler Quartet also earned such approval on Sunday evening with its tightrope walk between late Romanticism and free tonality through the close-meshed texture of Alban Berg’s String Quartet op. 3, and above all with its cheerfully relaxed rendition of Giuseppe Verdi’s unique quartet. Tim Vogler (first violin), Frank Reinecke (second violin), Stefan Fehland (viola) and Stephan Forck (cello) dispelled the great opera composer’s self-doubts about his occasional work with charm and cheerful serenity, especially in the cleverly dabbed staccatos of the final fugal scherzo.”

The Hyperion Trio was founded in 1999 and has gone on to earn an outstanding reputation in Germany and the international music world and to perform an extraordinarily broad repertoire. In its programs and the concert cycles designed for the cities of Hanover, Magdeburg, and Leipzig the Hyperion Trio has performed more than two hundred works, some of them as premieres or in programs in which great masterpieces are heard together with the music of more less known composers whose works have yet to be rediscovered.

Vol. 4 of the MMJ Live series documents the first night of My Morning Jacket’s 5-night run in 2010 at Terminal 5 in New York City. Performing their debut album, Tennessee Fire, in its entirety plus a 7-song encore, which includes covers of songs by Elton John and Jefferson Airplane.

Die preisgekrönte Capella de la Torre lässt die Lübecker Abendmusiken wieder aufleben, in denen im 17. Jahrhundert erstmals Musik außerhalb des Gottesdienstes ausgeführt wurde – mit ausgewählten Werken Dieterich Buxtehudes (1637–1707), aber auch mit Raritäten von Franz Tunder, Johann Grabbe und Joachim Decker.Capella de la Torre, Margaret Hunter (soprano), Isabel Schicketanz (soprano), Florian Sievers (tenor), Martin Schicketanz (bass), Capella de la Torre & Katharina Bäuml, Katharina Bäuml, Martina Fiedler (organ)

Michèle Auclair was born into a family with sense for arts and culture. Her first teacher was Line Talluel and later, at the Conservatoire de Paris, Jules Boucherit, Boris Kamensky and Jacques Thibaud.In 1943, she won the first prize at the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition and in 1946 also the first prize at Geneva Concours.From 1956, she collaborated with the pianist Jacqueline Bonneau with their concert debut a year later. In 1962, she started another collaboration with the pianist Geneviève Joy.

Celtic Thunder is an Irish-Scottish musical group that has been a multiple-time Billboard winner in the world music category. Since their debut in 2007, they have released 11 albums, including "Heritage," "Mythology," and "Legacy." Their shows are known for impressive stage effects and a mix of traditional and contemporary Celtic music. The group actively tours the USA, Canada, and Australia, conducting large-scale tours and releasing popular albums. In 2014, Celtic Thunder joined Sony Records’ Legacy label, releasing "Holiday Symphony" and "The Very Best of Celtic Thunder."

In a career spanning more than 60 years, John Hammond played with just about everyone and seemed to influence everyone else. You’re Doin’ Fine showcases John Hammond in his prime playing solo country blues as captured by famed Grateful Dead soundman Owsley Stanley. This master class of the blues romps through Delta, Chicago, Texas, and Piedmont blues, including six Robert Johnson songs.

A loving crafted deluxe digipak edition of this remarkable concert from 1974 performed by beloved singer/songwriter Melanie! Across two full discs, Melanie offers stirring and intimate renditions of her best loved songs from "Beautiful People," "Ring The Living Bell," "What Have They Done To My Song, Ma," and "The Nickel Song" to deeper cuts such as "Holding Out," "Steppin'" and many more! Packaged in a full-color 8-panel digipak with vintage phots and detailed liner notes from music journalist and longtime Melanie manager, Dave Thompson!