Laurence Hobgood:

The Laurence Hobgood Trio with string quartet ETHEL

"Laurence Hobgood's new album is grounded in a deep and rich musicality that rewards frequent and multiple listenings like nothing I've heard in decades. It is at different times surprising, thought-provoking, nuanced, and always exquisite. What do Debussy, Ravel, Miles Davis and Johnny Cash have in common? They were all superb crafters of melody, harmony and rhythm who decided, as Hobgood does here, to explore texture-driven music, elevating timbre and orchestration to equal standing with their better known musical accomplices. Hobgood is continually pulling rabbits out of hats, getting me to rethink and re-feel songs I've heard thousands of times, shining a light on hidden structure and interplays I had never noticed before. Anyone who can sneak in a few bars of  "I've Found a New Baby" has got me hooked. From meter shifts to harmonic innovation and textural elegance, tesseterra should be on every station and streaming services playlists for years to come." 

Angelique Kidjo:

On April 19, Angélique Kidjo will release Celia (Verve/Universal Music France), an album that honors Celia Cruz, widely known as "the Queen of Salsa" and the most popular Latin artist of the 20thcentury.  On Celia, Angélique explores the African roots of the Cuban-born Cruz and reimagines selections from Cruz's extraordinary career in surprising new ways, infused with an explosion of sounds and rhythms from Cuba, Africa, the Middle East, America and beyond.  The album includes performances by Tony Allen (Fela Kuti) on drums, Meshell Ndegeocello on bass, and British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchins plus his band Sons of Kemet.   

Luciano Pavarotti:

From the filmmaking team behind the highly-acclaimed documentary The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years, PAVAROTTI is a riveting film that lifts the curtain on the icon who brought opera to the people. Academy Award winner Ron Howard puts audiences front row center for an exploration of The Voice...The Man...The Legend. Luciano Pavarotti gave his life to the music and a voice to the world. This cinematic event features history-making performances and intimate interviews, including never-before-seen footage and cutting-edge Dolby Atmos technology. 

A CBS Films Polygram Entertainment Brian Grazer presentation, PAVAROTTI is an Imagine Entertainment and White Horse Pictures production. 

DIRECTED BY: Ron Howard 

WRITTEN BY: Mark Monroe 

PRODUCED BY: Nigel Sinclair, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Michael Rosenberg, Jeanne Elfant Festa 

OPENING IN THEATERS LIMITED ON JUNE 7, 2019 

Radical Face:

"Hello, Hope, it's been a while," go the opening lines of "Dead Ends", the centerpiece of Ben Cooper's latest EP as Radical Face. After giving eight years of his life, creatively and emotionally, to his three-part The Family Tree series -- The Roots (2011), The Branches (2013), and The Leaves (2016) -- Cooper had indeed lost touch with hope. He'd too long grasped ideas and perceptions that held him back from peace. Speaking with a professional finally enabled him to let go, something he's honored by naming his new effort Therapy. 

On Therapy, Radical Face has let go of all his past narratives. Instead of an intricate saga, he's kept his parameters simple. Instead of acoustic folk, he's written lush compositions. Instead of his troubled past, he's focused on his scarred present. Unsure yet confident, battered yet resilient, Cooper is taking Radical Face in a poignant new direction. And there's hope there.

Seth MacFarlane:

Seth MacFarlane will release his fifth album Once In A While (Verve and Republic) digitally, and the physical CD will be available on April 26th. The reflective album, which MacFarlane calls "a collection of wistful, pensive songs," features songs by Irving Berlin, Rogers and Hart, and Johnny Mercer.

The tracks for Once In A While were recorded alongside the songs for his last album, 2017's In Full Swing- and material for another, future record- in a marathon 2016 session at London's legendary Abbey Road Studio 2, the room in which the Beatles cut the majority of their catalogue. Unlike the hard-charging big band swing of his previous project, the thirteen songs on this album are all ballads that MacFarlane says "deal with longing, lost love, and sadness, infused with fond recollection and a hint of hope."

"They're not necessarily sad break-up songs," says arranger Andrew Cottee. "They're more reflective, thoughtful, even philosophical, but they're not all torch songs."

Philip Bailey:

For over 50 years, Earth Wind and Fire provided the soundtrack to the lives of many.  With award winning albums and chart-topping hits such as "September", "Devotion", "Reasons" and "Keep Your Head to the Sky" EWF have stood the test of time and continue to be a force in music. Philp Bailey, one of the lead singers, also experienced solo success with "Easy Lover" and "Walking on the Chinese Wall." This new album, Love Will Find A Way, has Philip teamed up with some of today's hottest, progressive Jazz artists such as Robert Glasper, Christian McBride, Kamasi Washington, Casey Benjamin, Chick Corea, Steve Gadd and more. The single, "Billy Jack", was written by the legendary Curtis Mayfield and produced by both Robert Glasper and Philip Bailey.

The Stan Getz Quartet:

On November 26, 1961, saxophonist Stan Getz and his relatively new quartet of Steve Kuhn, John Neves, and Roy Haynes performed at New York's Village Gate. The show was professionally recorded, possibly for eventual release, but was soon forgotten and the tape languished in the vaults for almost 58 years. On June 14th, Verve Records/UMe will release the 2-CD, 3-LP Getz at The Gate, which includes every note recorded that night. 

This recording and this quartet both serve as a sort of "road not taken" for Stan Getz. Having just returned from living in Europe, Getz assembled a new quartet and was exploring a slightly more modern and aggressive sound with this group. Steve Kuhn had only recently finished playing with John Coltrane's quartet and a more modern music and sound - personified by Coltrane - was gaining popularity. 

Sarah McKenzie:

After the great success of Sarah McKenzie's 2017 disc, Paris in the Rain(Impulse! Records), the 31-year-old pianist, singer, and composer returns with the poignant, Secrets of My Heart, reuniting with noted Australian composer, arranger, and events music director, Chong Lim, who produced her first two discs – Don't Tempt Me and Close Your Eyes. Recorded in New York City, Secrets of My Heart exudes cosmopolitan flair with its lineup that includes French bassist Pierre Boussaguet and Brazilian percussionist Rogerio Bocattoalongside guitarist Dan Wilson, drummer Donald Edwards, vibraphonist Warren Wolf,tenor saxophonist Troy Roberts, and cellist Jody Redhage Ferber(all of whom based in the United States).

Vikingur Olafsson:

Following his critically-acclaimed Johann Sebastian Bach album, pianist Vikingur Ólafsson releases a double LP of Bach Reworks, featuring new arrangements of his Bach transcriptions from electronic artists such as Valgeir Sigurðsson and Ben Frost (Prelude BWV 855a), Peter Gregson (Above and Below, B Minor), and Ryuichi Sakamoto (BWV 974 – II Adagio – Rework).

Ilan Eshkeri:

Half-hearted concessions to freedom of expression were not enough to hold Rudolf Nureyev in the Soviet Union. The young dancer, a superstar soloist of the Kirov Ballet, caused an international sensation when he became the first Soviet artist to defect to the West during the Cold War. The White Crow, a new film directed by Ralph Fiennes, charts Nureyev's journey from childhood poverty in Siberia and meteoric rise as a principal dancer to the decisive moment of his defection in June 1961 at Le Bourget airport in Paris. The story's personal and political drama surges through Sir David Hare's screenplay and is intensified by the austere beauty of Ilan Eshkeri's original score. Deutsche Grammophon is set to release the soundtrack album on 22 March 2019 to coincide with the movie's international release.

Ludovico Einaudi:

Ludovico Einaudi has played piano on an Arctic glacier, performed at huge pop music festivals, and become the most-streamed classical artist in the world, but the composer and pianist's new album may be his most ambitious project yet. On March 15 2019, he released the first episode of a seven-part new album called Seven Days Walking (Decca Records/Universal), before embarking on a North American tour at the end of May. 

Einaudi also announces today his signing of a new worldwide contract with Decca Records, under Universal Music Group. After nearly 15 years and six album releases together, Decca – the world's No.1 classical music label – is thrilled to renew its working relationship with Einaudi and be the home to his music globally. This is the first time Einaudi's music will be released via Universal Music Group in the United States. 

Evgeny Kissin & Emerson String Quartet:

Grammy-winning musicians Evgeny Kissin and the Emerson String Quartet join forces for their debut collaborative album, captured live at a sold out Carnegie Hall concert, to be released on Deutsche Grammophon this Friday, April 12. The first track off of the album, the third movement from Dvořák's Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major op. 81, is available now.

Capturing a rare performance of one of the world's most acclaimed pianists as a chamber musician, this live album is a new gem in DG's vast catalog. 

The rehersal and preparation process for the recording created space for a true meeting of minds, allowing Kissin and the Emersons to preserve their individual characteristics while revealing qualities unique to their collaboration. Ideas tested in the rehearsal room were subsequently forged in the heat of performance, unleashing elemental shifts between Classical heroism and Romantic introspection, and drawing out points of dramatic tension and release. Everything flowed, nothing became fixed as Kissin and the Emersons moved from one concert to the next. Last year's performances "were the highlights of [their] season," notes ESQ's Eugene Drucker. 

Andras Schiff:

Here is a Schubert recording for our times, made in a small hall in Bonn on a historically appropriate instrument intended for an intimate setting. An interpretation of subtle nuances, fine shadings and regional flavors, emphasizing the cultural framework that defined this music.

When András Schiff's first double album with late piano works by Franz Schubert was released on ECM New Series in 2015, critics and audiences paid particular attention to the pianist's choice of a fortepiano built by Franz Brodmann in 1820. In the liner notes, Schiff explained his conversion "from Saul to Paul", advocating a historically informed style of playing on instruments used in the classical era and describing the tonal characteristics of the Brodmann piano. The timbre of the instrument, he reasoned, reflected "a typically Viennese quality, gentle, melancholy, and song-like". And since Schubert, like no other composer, used "the soft notes, the quietest sounds" to touch our hearts, the excellently preserved Brodmann with its four pedals serves these "quietest sounds" particularly well.

All Press Secured by Tina Pelikan - ECM

Yo-Yo Ma:

On March 8, Sony Classical will release a recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen's cello concerto featuring Yo-Yo Ma and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Salonen's baton. Co-commissioned for Ma by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Barbican Centre, and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Salonen's cello concerto premiered on March 9, 2017 with Salonen himself conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ma and the concerto then came to the New York Philharmonic on March 17, 2017, with then-Music Director Alan Gilbert conducting; Ma and Gilbert continued the premiere season with performances at London's Barbican Centre and Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. This recording captures the live performance in Los Angeles on February 8, 2018.

Francesco Tristano:

The new album "Tokyo Stories" captures Francesco Tristano's deeply held admiration for the city in 16 original compositions for piano, synthesizers and electronics. The album reflects his long personal connection to Tokyo, with each piece or ‘story' crystallizing experiences that range from the profound to the happily serendipitous. Composed by Tristano and recorded primarily in Tokyo, the album features a variety of guest artists on several tracks, including the Japanese musicians U-zhaan, Keiichiro Shibuya and Hiroshi Watanabe, Argentine electronic artist Guti and legendary French musician Michel Portal.

Yolanda Kondonassis:

Azica Records will release American Rapture featuring harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Ward Stare. This album includes the world premiere recording of Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Higdon's Harp Concerto, written for and dedicated to Yolanda Kondonassis; Samuel Barber's Symphony No. 1 in One Movement, Op. 9; and the world premiere recording of Patrick Harlin's Rapture. The album is designed to highlight three generations of American composition and, as defined by Harlin in the context of his work, to depict rapture not as a religious event, but as an experience of extreme human emotion.

Ola Onabule:

Ola Onabulé's album; "It's The Peace That Deafens" marks a departure from his previous two releases featuring a largely acoustic set, uniting Jazz, Soul and world influences. The Album contains 12 evocative songs about identity, reconciliation and nostalgia. Words, melodies and rhythms that walk a delicate tightrope of paradoxes, born of a childhood and adulthood immersed in two disparate cultures, on two different continents and at two different times.  "It's The Peace That Deafens" is as much a work of exploration as it is a declaration.  

Ola states; "Hands-on, self-sufficiency has always been my mantra for survival in the music game. I always felt like the creative parts of song writing, producing and recording were merely different stages of a single process". 

Jess Gillam:

This is the debut album from the trailblazing saxophonist and rising star, Jess Gillam. The first saxophonist to sign to Decca Classics and the winner of the "Sound of Classical Poll" at the Classic Brits, Jess presents a stunning collection of tracks that reflect her varied and colorful musical tastes and inspirations. Includes beautiful cover versions from two of Jess's biggest heroes, Kate Bush and David Bowie, and film music hits from John Williams and Michael Nyman.

Ron Davis:

Ron Davis. Piano player, composer, band leader, Edinburgh Festival Fringe favourite, BBC Radio 3 repeat guest, solo artist, critics choice. Ron and his band of award-winning musicians have kept people listening, loving and coming back for more.

Ron's music blends genres and pushes boundaries. It builds on his jazz and classical training, influenced by world music (klezmer, Hungarian, Italian, Brazilian, Latin). He seeks new textures, new forms, new compositions, new formations and new ways of presenting his signature sound. The music is diverse in a characteristically Canadian way. Ron is the founder of SymphRONica, the creative project that combines jazz, world, groove, pop, classical music and a stellar group of Canadian musicians into a mix that can be found nowhere else. In Ron's words "Just as Toronto is a city composed of many people from many places, SymphRONica is composed of a group of musicians from diverse backgrounds, and every one of them plays with intense passion and pleasure together." SymphRONica is genre-defying – no one else is combining a jazz ensemble with full symphony orchestras or string quartets.

Danny Elfman:

"Every child knows his melodies." You'll normally only hear this about rock stars. But Danny Elfman is a composer of film music. Yet, who doesn't know how to whistle the theme from The Simpsons? Or the driving sound of Beetlejuice devised by Elfman in 1988, which became a hallmark for the comedy-fantasy film genre and for video games. Elfman provided the film score for nearly all movies directed by Tim Burton, invented the cinematic sound for Spider Man and Men in Black and came up with the main theme for Desperate Housewives. Hailing from Los Angeles and already a member of an avant-garde ensemble by the age of 19, Elfman has established himself as a fixture among the greatest film composers alongside Hans Zimmer or John Williams. However, among the soundtrack masters Elfman stands out for the distinctive character he lends his scores. With him, tubas and trombones play at a breakneck speed and violins are put through Paganini-like paces. And every soundtrack has its own unique idea which captivates the imagination of moviegoers over and over again.

Anna Shelest:

Anna Shelest's first release featuring virtuosic repertoire by women composers from the last three centuries. The program sheds light on the under-explored territory of piano repertoire and makes the case that the music of female composers, many of whom were virtuoso pianists, is as relevant today as the music of their male counterparts. Works by Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Cecile Chaminade, Amy Beach, Lili Boulanger, and Chiayu Hsu.

Demarre & Anthony McGill:

Demarre McGill, principal flute of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and brother Anthony McGill, principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, return to their early training ground, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, for Winged Creatures, a homecoming album of duo concertos featuring world-premiere recordings of works by Michael Abels and Joel Puckett written expressly for the McGills and the CYSO's Symphony Orchestra.

George Winston:

Celebrated pianist George Winston will release his 15th solo piano album, Restless Wind, via Dancing Cat Records/RCA Records on May 3, 2019. By virtue of his brilliance as one of the foremost instrumental composers of our time, Restless Windpresents a stunning journey documenting George Winston's sociological observations in American history. Winston repurposes for the modern listener stunningly relevant works by musical greats such as Sam Cooke, The Doors, Stephen Stills, George & Ira Gershwin, Country Joe McDonald, and others. Restless Wind captures Winston's inimitable melodic language where piano textures and tones set the stage for vivid renderings of classic compositions. 

All Press secured by JP Cutler Media

Max Richter:

Max Richter's score for the 2018 drama Never Look Away is released on DG. The latest from director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarch (Lives of Others), Never Look Away is inspired by the life of artist Gerhard Richter through the story of an art student in post-war East Germany. The film was selected as the German entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards and stars Tom Schiling, Sebastian Koch and Paula Beer.

Snack Cat:

Snack Cat's first official release has been a long time in the making. The band has been refining its sound for a few years now, drawing inspiration from classic funk, soul and rock while never forgetting its jazz roots. Guitarist and bandleader Aleksi Glick wrote most of the music for this debut EP in January 2018 on a rooftop in LA. It was something about the setting of the dirty yet iconic city that got the creative juices flowing - the many dreamers trying to make it big and putting on whatever face or facade got them through the day. While the songs come from a reflective and almost pensive place, they express a certain joy and hopefulness. At its heart, Glick's music is inspired by his hometown of New York City, but for some reason these particular songs needed to come to life and grow elsewhere. Along the way, Glick's old bandmate, Madhava Hansen, and Snack Cat frontwoman, Chantal Mitvalsky, contributed final touches to the songwriting behind the tracks.

Katia & Marielle Labeque:

The Labèque Sisters' new album is dedicated to American composer Bryce Dessner and Academy Award-winning film director Alejandro Gonzales Iñarittú, who created the cover art. Following in the footsteps of minimalist composers such as Glass, Adams, and Reich, Dessner composed the Concerto for Two Pianos for the sisters. Recorded in 2018 with Orchestre de Paris conducted by Matthias Pintscher, the album also includes Dessner's El Chan for two pianos, and Haven for two guitars and two pianos.

The Comet Is Coming:

The Comet Is Comingreleases their Impulse! Debut - Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery
US tour starts March 12. Includes; Los Angeles, SXSW, New York, Philadelphia, DC, Big Ears, Bonnaroo

The Comet Is Coming, "an improvisational, intergalactic mash-up" (The Guardian), will release their Impulse! debut, Trust In the Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery, on March 15. Their first-ever US tour begins in Los Angeles on March 12 and takes them through SXSW, NYC, Philadelphia, DC, Big Ears Festival and finally lands them in Bonnaroo on June 13. The first track from the album, "Summon The Fire," is available today.

The Comet Is Coming, who in 2016 were shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize, is comprised of King Shabaka (Shabaka Hutchings) on saxophone, Danalogue (Dan Leavers) on keys/synth, and Betamax (Max Hallett) on drums. On this album, Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery, the trio envisage a 21st century take on spiritual jazz that is part Alice Coltrane, part Bladerunner.

Avi Avital:

Deutsche Grammophon presents the extended, limited edition of Avi Avital's "spellbinding" (Newark Star-Ledger) DG debut, Bach. The album features several tracks of newly recorded Bach, all arranged by Avital for the mandolin, including the famous Prélude from Cello Suite No. 1, BWV 1007.

Joep Beving:

Dutch composer and pianist Joep Beving releases his third album, Henosis today on Deutsche Grammophon – the album marks the final volume in a trilogy of albums that comprises Beving's debut album Solipsism and his sophomore album Prehension. This album also marks the end of an intensely personal four-year spiritual and philosophical exploration for the acclaimed composer/pianist. 

SYML:

The outstanding emotive song of 2016 has surfaced. It's entitled "Where's My Love." The piano isn't complex. Nor is the support by the strings (cello, right?). The vocals aren't demanding. But the elements are combined in a manner that positively distinguishes the song from others in our playlist. "Where's My Love" is a track by SYML, which is the performance name of Brian Fennell. He was a founding member of the Seattle band Barcelona. 

Andreas Ottensamer, Yuja Wang:

Recording for the first time together, clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer and Yuja Wang perform beloved Romantic chamber repertoire by Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Weber in new arrangements. For Weber's Clarinet Concerto No.1 in F minor, Ottensamer is joined by one of the leading orchestras in the world, the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Mariss Jansons.

Joni Mitchell:

Honoring musical icon Joni Mitchell's legacy and 75th birthday, Decca Records will release The Music Center Presents Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration on March 8, 2019. On Joni's 75th birthday last November, a star-studded roster of musicians gathered together to pay tribute to the legendary singer-songwriter. The evening was recorded and is now subsequently being released. It features performances by Brandi Carlile; Glen Hansard; Emmylou Harris; Norah Jones; Chaka Khan; Diana Krall; Kris Kristofferson; Los Lobos with La Marisoul, Cesar Castro & Xochi Flores; Graham Nash; James Taylor; Seal; Rufus Wainwright; and more. The full track list is below. 

Recorded at The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, a stage on which Mitchell twice performed in 1972 and 1974, the album includes performances and interpretations of classic Mitchell  songs, including Brandi Carlile & Kris Kristofferson performing "A Case of You," Seal's version of "Both Sides Now", Diana Krall singing "Amelia", Rufus Wainwright's "Blue", Norah Jones' version of "Court And Spark", and many more. 

Janoska Ensemble:

The Janoska Ensemble continues to cut its own path in the classical world on their new album, Revolution. The album features works by Bach, Kreisler, Wieniawski, and the Beatles, from whom the Janoska Ensemble draws inspiration: "Just as the Beatles revolutionized pop music, we want, if you like, to revolutionize classical music. When we play classical music, we bring back the tradition of free improvisation that was taken for granted in Baroque times."

Joe Alexander Shepherd:

Joe Alexander Shepherd is an English composer and pianist whose minimalist contemporary-classical works invoke names like Ludovico Einaudi, Michael Nyman, and Dustin O'Halloran, Joe Alexander Shepherd is a native of York and a graduate from Paul McCartney's acclaimed Academy of Music in Liverpool. A composer since the age of 15, Shepherd has a classical background, but is also a pop and electronic music fan who incorporates textural synths into his work. In 2018, he signed to Nettwerk Music Group and released his debut album, Time. The 27 year old's previous clients include: BBC1 / BBC2, UEFA, RFU English Rugby, Melvita, Landrover.

VOCES8:

The British vocal ensemble VOCES8 is proud to inspire people through music and share the joy of singing. Touring globally, the group performs an extensive repertory both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading orchestras, conductors and soloists. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble's performance and education ethos.

Voces8 releases Enchanted Isle, a new album of music reminiscent of rolling hills, green valleys, rugged mountainsides, and sleepy villages. Enchanted Isle features reimagined pieces originally written for film or television (such as Lord of the Ringsand Game of Thrones), new arrangements of Scottish and Irish melodies, and compositions set to texts by great English poets.

Lang Lang:

One of the world's biggest classical stars, Lang Lang, returns with his brand new solo album ‘Piano Book' – a collection of pieces which first inspired him to play the piano and led him on his path to international stardom. The recording, his first new studio album in three years, marks his return to Universal Music Group and Deutsche Grammophon – the label he first signed to in 2003.

Lang Lang says: "I want to take every music lover on a journey through my favourite piano pieces. I hope to inspire as well as motivate every piano student to remain focused during daily practice, and to play and understand these essential pieces for what they really are: true masterpieces!"

‘Piano Book' gathers together many of the miniatures that generations of amateur pianists have grown up with. Lang Lang holds them in the highest regard, believing them to be classics in their own right. He wants to encourage piano students across the world to fully appreciate them.

Veronica Bell:

Classical vocalist Veronica Bell challenges traditions in her new crossover album Midnight Affairs.

" I know it's crazy to put the Tchaikovsky's aria and Gardel's tango practically next to each other but... I believe that music is a reflection of our souls where everything is mixed together; why should a record be any different?" - Veronica Bell 

Operatically trained, Russian-American soprano Veronica Bell is not afraid of raising a few eyebrows. She proudly wears the title Antichrist of Opera given to her for recording Va Pensiero chorus from Verdi's Nabucco as a solo piece accompanied by ... yes, a metal band. In her new album she takes full advantage of the wide-open field of classical crossover genre. Not only she transforms solo arias into duets and trios and instrumental music into vocal, she also combines separately written pieces into one and re-works orchestrations to fit her vision.  She has a full three-octave range and a big personality, and she is not afraid to use either. Everything she creates exudes passion, and it's contagious and convincing.

Valentina Lisitsa:

This album is the world's first ever truly complete collection of these works, curated in association with the world authority on Tchaikovsky. This new recording features over 11 hours of music, which includes: 2 hours of premiere international recordings, such as Tchaikovsky's earliest surviving work "Anastasie-valse" and some of his solo piano transcriptions of his orchestral works, including the Festival Coronation March and the 1812 Overture (complete). Numerous world-premiere recordings appear throughout the new set.

Lucie Horsch:

Hailed as "a brilliant young performer" by BBC Music Magazine, Lucie Horsch returns to take listeners on a journey around Baroque Europe. Highlights from the album include Handel's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba," Bach's "Badinerie," the world-premiere recording of a concerto by Jacques-Christophe Naudot, and "Dido's Lament" by Purcell. For her second album, the 19-year-old Dutch recorder player is joined by the Academy of Ancient Music in the ensemble's first Decca recording in over 20 years.

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra:

Handel's late-career oratorio Joseph and his Brethren, though popular during Handel's day, eventually became one of the composer's most neglected large-scale works.  As such, Joseph had only been recorded once before Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale decided to take it on for its latest recording project, the 11th on the Philharmonia Baroque Productions label. With a cast of early music specialists led by noted Handelian Nicholas McGegan, PBO makes a strong case for Joseph to regain its place among Handel's most often-performed oratorios such as Samson, Judas Maccabaeus, and Israel in Egypt.

The formidable cast includes the award-winning Philharmonia Chorale led by Bruce Lamott; mezzo-soprano Diana Moore as Joseph; tenor and GRAMMY nominee Nicholas Phan as Simeon and Judah, two of Joseph's brothers; soprano Sherezade Panthaki as Asenath, daughter of the high priest; and baritone Philip Cutlip as Pharaoh and Reuben, Joseph's eldest brother. Phan, who will sing the title role in Handel's Judas Maccabaeus during PBO's 2019/20 season, gives dramatic depth to the character of Simeon, who undergoes remarkable development, from fierce and tortured to pious and sympathetic, worthy of Joseph's tears. The character of Asenath, originally portrayed by French soprano Élisabeth Duparc, for whom the title role in Semele was created, has several dazzling arias, particularly "Prophetic raptures swell my breast" in Part III. They are executed with show-stopping gusto by Panthaki.

Gustavo Dudamel:

The prestigious Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, and Deutsche Grammophon, the world's leading classical music label, are set to extend their long history of making music together. They will now build on a relationship that has already produced benchmark recordings of works by Mahler and John Adams, among others, and seen orchestra and conductor play key roles in the visionary "DG Concerts" initiative, which allowed music-lovers rapid virtual access to live LA Phil concerts. 

Upcoming releases on Deutsche Grammophon will include a tribute to multi-award-winning film composer John Williams and, as the LA Phil marks its centenary season, a commemorative limited-edition box set entitled LA PHIL – 100 YEARS, which will encompass many of the most significant performances given by the orchestra over the decades. As a prelude to this renewed cooperation, in November 2018 DG released the LA Phil and Dudamel's new reading of the complete score of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker to widespread acclaim, with Gramophone hailing the orchestra's "fabulous" playing and The New York Times calling the album a "joyously vibrant recording". 

Sistine Chapel Choir:

The fourth installment in the acclaimed collaboration between DG and the Sistine Chapel Choir, O CRUX BENEDICTA: Lent and Holy Week At The Sistine Chapel features world premiere recordings of works by Palestrina, Di Lasso, and more. This series of state-of-the-art recordings breathes new life into Renaissance and Baroque choral masterpieces at the highest artistic level, transferring listeners into a meditative and peaceful state – a refreshing break from the trappings of modern life.

Jae-Hyuck Cho:

Acclaimed South Korean pianist Jae-Hyuck Cho released his debut concerto recording on SONY Classical with Adrien Perruchon conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The album also marks the recording debut of conductor Adrien Perruchon. Michael Fine produced the sessions in Glasgow with engineer Jin Choi. Featuring the first piano concertos of Beethoven and Liszt, the CD made the playlist of GRAMOPHONE's ‘Listening Room' shortly after its release. 

Jae-Hyuck Cho is one South Korea's most active performing artists both at home and abroad. He has been described as "a musician who nears perfection with an extraordinary breadth of expression, flawless technique, and composition, sensitivity, and intelligence, insightful and detailed playing without exaggeration."  He is a graduate of both the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music.

Sung-Won Yang:

After the releasing the Bach album with EMI in 2005, Decca releases J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites on the 25th August 2017. Recorded at 19th century's catholic church, Notre Dame de Bon Secours, Paris, this is the most adored classic piece containing all the tracks from the J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites. In order to contain the natural sounds of the recording from the catholic church, this album specifically minimized the post production including the mixing process. You can experience the maturity and depth of Sung-Won Yang's cello sound of time compared to the recording 13 years ago. Sung-Won Yang's have said that Bach's music provides beyond happiness, yet intellectual and spiritual pieces which makes J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites holy grail for the cellists.

Richard Ford:

The musical world of Basso Profondissimo springs from the imagination of English bassist and producer Richard Ford. The collection was conceived and played on bass, creating a unique and surprising melding of sounds and adding some rough edges to the genres of jazz, ambient, bossa nova and neoclassical.

Sharing some of the same musical landscape as Sigur Rós, Lyle Mays, Bebel Gilberto, ECM Records, and Bill Frisell, Basso Profondissimo employs a cinematic language, often minimal and evocative. There are surprising moments, as when softer passages burst into something rougher and edgier. In the neoclassical-leaning pieces, unexpected elements surface, like floating transparencies revealed from somewhere back in the scenery. Elsewhere, bubbling rhythms emerge, cracking pieces open into exotic meters. This is not a work concerned with virtuosity (though references to seminal bassists like Jaco Pastorius can be heard in places). This collection is about evoking moods and character, not about flash.

Wilhelmina Smith:

On a more intimate scale, Ondine/Naxos offers American cellist Wilhelmina Smith in a stimulating array of solo pieces by two of Finland's greatest modern musical luminaries, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Kaija Saariaho. Three works by Salonen are followed by four of Saariaho's, linked by a chiacona by seventeenth-century Modenese composer Giuseppe Colombi that inspired the last of Salonen's pieces (Sarabande per un coyote) and the first of Saariaho's (Dreaming Chaconne). (Both are components of the Mystery Variations, commissioned from thirty-one leading composers by Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen in 2010.)

Jan Lisiecki:

Acclaimed 23-year-old Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki joins forces with the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to release Mendelssohn on Deutsche Grammophon on February 1. The album explores a pair of early Romantic masterpieces: Mendelssohn's Piano Concertos in G minor and D minor, complemented with a selection of Mendelssohn's most brilliant pieces for solo piano: the Variations sérieuses, the Rondo capriccioso and the "Venetian Boat Song" from the Songs without Words.

Felix Mendelssohn was a year younger than Lisiecki is now when he wrote his First Piano Concerto in G minor; the work was dedicated to the seventeen-year-old pianist Delphine von Schauroth. Cast in three movements, it is a lively, spirited work, at times requiring lightning-quick playing. Lisiecki finds it remarkable that the concerto begins as if "in the middle of a piece," and particularly appreciates the buoyancy of this early work – he thinks of it as like "a nature trip" and notes that its "lightness of touch ... reminds [him] very much of playing Mozart." 

Lara Downes:

On March 1, 2019, American pianist Lara Downes releases her new album, Holes in the Sky, on Portrait, an imprint of the Sony Music Masterworks label.

Holes in the Sky is a genre-fluid collection of music written and performed by today's leading female artists, celebrating the contributions of phenomenal women to the past, present, and future of American music.

The music of Holes in the Sky tells the story of what women and girls can contribute to the world when they are given a chance - their dreams can make holes in the sky. Lara collaborates with an extraordinary multi-generational group of female guest artists on this album, including the iconic singer / songwriter Judy Collins, boundary-breaking violinist Rachel Barton Pine, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, fast-rising cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing, and the urban youth vocal ensemble Musicality.

The album is presented in direct support of PLAN International Because I Am A Girl, bolstering the rights and empowerment of girls and young women around the globe; Women's Empowerment in Sacramento, ending homelessness one woman - and one family - at a time; the Downtown Women's Center in Los Angeles, a permanent and supportive housing and healthcare provider for women; Girls on the Run in Spokane, teaching life skills through fun, engaging lessons that celebrate the joy of movement; and the Lower East Side Girls Club, breaking the cycle of poverty by training the next generation of ethical, entrepreneurial, and environmental leaders.

Luca:

Influenced by the laid-back neo-soul of D'Angelo, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and Anderson .paak, and the expressive lyricism of Joni Mitchell, Kendrick Lamar, and Elliot Smith, Lions is the culmination of a childhood of musical discovery. Written, recorded, and co-produced by Luca (vocals/keyboards), backed by seasoned session musicians Jordan Scannella (bass), Sean Dixon (drums), and Josh Dion (synth bass/drums), and joined by a horn section of rising jazz musicians Zaq Davis and James Haddad (both trumpet), all at the helm of prolific producer and engineer David Lawrence Goldman, Lions is an immersive musical calendar, with each song dedicated to a month of the year. Luca, a jazz pianist and singer-songwriter from NYC, is only 18 but musically an old soul. Inspired by the great concept records of the 1970s, he creates a vivid sonic landscape for each season, in which songs live and breathe. From "Spring Again," a vibrant homage to the synth-rich funk of Stevie Wonder, to "Saint Sulpice," a passionate plea for honest love inspired by a choral concert in a church in Paris, the album is a window into a year in Luca's life. Like the passage of time, Lions is cyclical, beginning where it ends; more importantly, it's music that we can all get down to.

Penka Kouneva:

If Frederic Chopin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Clara Schumann or Alma Mahler were composing movie themes in the 21st century, what would their music sound like?

Penka Kouneva's new concept album, Invisible Lifeline, is a collection of six intricate piano fantasias and two string orchestral tracks in the Classical style. Each composition tells a story about what motivates the creative artist.

Like the mountain climber on the CD cover, an artist's career is a steep journey. What inspires the artist? What gives them energy to keep pushing forward to create screenplays, stories, music, poetry, dance, video games? Various sources on creativity and inspiration served as a springboard: Game Developers Conference lectures by the visionary designer Jason Vandenberghe on the gamer's motivation; the books Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland and The Tools by Phil Stutz & Barry Michels. The deepest motivation came from Penka's own journey as a woman, wife, mother, artist and composer for film, TV, video games and Virtual Reality. The CD cover art was inspired by The Rise of the Tomb Raider game and by a line from its trailer ("Only through life's adversities we become who we're meant to be").

This is Penka's first collaboration with the international virtuoso Georgi Slavchev who added his own arrangements to the piano tracks. Invisible Lifeline was also inspired by Penka's continued work with her mentor and manager, Victor Rodriguez. This album is a gift for Victor's fiftieth birthday.
Georgi Slavchev, piano soloist

Gernot Wolfgang:

Albany Records just released composer Gernot Wolfgang's chamber music CD VIENNA AND THE WEST. The album is a follow-up to his CD PASSING THROUGH, which received rave reviews and went on to be nominated for a 2016 GRAMMY Award in the category Best Classical Compendium.

VIENNA AND THE WEST was recorded from May 15-18, 2018 in Los Angeles by some of the city's finest classical musicians, among them members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, first-call studio musicians and several GRAMMY nominees (including one winner). GRAMMY nominated Rich Breen was the engineer for these sessions. 

Heidrun Holtmann:

Between the composition of the two books of Johann Sebastian Bach‘s ›Well-Tempered Clavier‹ lie nearly two decades. He compiled the first during his years as Kapellmeister in Köthen in Saxony-Anhalt (1717 to 1723). Some of the pieces, or early forms of them, may already have been composed at the end of his time in Weimar. As Christoph Wolff notes, it was »probably his most revolutionary work for a keyboard instrument up to then«, in several respects. It was the first time a composer had written works in all the twelve major and twelve minor keys of the chromatic scale and put them together in a collection. In addition, the 24 preludes and fugues offered a compendium of the playing techniques, genres and forms of the piano music of the time. Not only that, they provided an overview of the art of composition and understanding of music. Bach also offers an introduction to the fundamentals of music playing, musical thinking and creativity.

The New York Philharmonic, Jaap van Zweden:

The New York Philharmonic's third album with Decca Gold will be released physically and digitally on February 22, 2019. The album features performances by the New York Philharmonic of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps and Debussy's La Mer from Jaap van Zweden's opening weeks (September-October 2018) as Music Director. It is now available for pre-order on nyphil.org and through this link.

Of the Opening Gala performance of Le Sacre du printempts, The New York Times wrote "Mr. van Zweden drew incisive, blazingly powerful and vehement playing from the Philharmonic." Two weeks later, The Times described the performance of La Mer as "bold, almost cinematic."

Andris Nelsons - Boston Symphony:

The Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andris Nelsons continue their critically acclaimed Under Stalin's Shadow series on Deutsche Grammophon with the release of Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 6 & 7 together with the composer's Suite from the Incidental Music to King Lear and the Festive Overture on February 22. 

The new double-disc set follows the 2018 release of a compelling pairing of Shostakovich's Fourth and Eleventh Symphonies, which has been nominated in the Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album (classical) categories for the 2019 Grammy Awards.

Seiji Ozawa:

45 years after his debut Philips recording of Beethoven's Ninth, Seiji Ozawa returns to this epic masterpiece with the Mito Chamber Orchestra. This new recording features star players Radek Baborák (horn), Ricardo Morales (clarinet), and Philippe Tondre (oboe) as well as the German baritone Markus Eiche, who leads a quartet of Japanese soloists and the Tokyo Opera Singers in a riveting performance of the famed final movement.

Various:

Recorded live to the highest industry standards in front of the magnificent scenery of Beijing's Forbidden City, this unique gala concert celebrates the 120th anniversary of Deutsche Grammophon. The concert features conductor Long Yu and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, both freshly signed as exclusive recording artists to Deutsche Grammophon, and performances from Aida Garifullina, Daniil Trifonov, Mari Samuelsen, and more.

Vangelis:

Pioneering composer Vangelis' new album has been released on Decca Records and is a soothing collection of solo piano pieces, recorded in his inimitable style. There are 11 new tracks as well as brand new versions of his iconic hits, including his score for Chariots of Fire and the "Love Theme" from Blade Runner. On this album, Vangelis records on a grand piano for the first time.

Vangelis is offering fans the chance to hear music from his new album, Nocturne, before its release by taking photos of the moon. They can upload their pictures via mobile phone to an innovative new website (vangelisnocturne.com), which uses visual recognition technology to unlock each new track according to its corresponding single cover image and lunar phase.

Soundtracks:

Valley of the Boom explores the dot-com era during Silicon Valley's unprecedented tech boom of the 1990s and subsequent bust. The six-part limited series tells the wildly true stories of the epic browser wars and the companies that shaped the internet.  Starring Bradley Whitford, Steve Zahn, Lamorne Morris, John Karna, Dakota Shapiro, Oliver Cooper and John Murphy, Valley of the Boom makes its debut on National Geographic Sunday, January 13.  

Created, directed and executive produced by Matthew Carnahan, Valley of the Boom is National Geographic's newest American docudrama. 

Charles Richard-Hamelin:

For their first recorded collaboration, pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, under the direction of Kent Nagano, are offering the album Chopin: Concertos Nos. 1 & 2.

"This project is a real childhood dream come true. I feel extremely privileged to have immortalized this ideal collaboration with Maestro Nagano and to now be part of the rich discography of the OSM" says Charles Richard-Hamelin of this album recorded in concert at the Maison symphonique de Montréal in October 2018.

Craig Swanson:

I have dreamed about The French Suite Kit ever since I first heard Glenn Gould talk about the possibility of a "New Listener" who would take some measure of control over their participation in the listening process. As Geoffrey Payzant in his book, Glenn Gould: Music and Mind, stated 40 years ago (1978):

The technological developments predicted by Gould in the mid-1960s have for the most part materialized as he said they would, but the advertisements in the audio press do not suggest that there is a consumer market for them. Nobody is advertising "kits."

Michele Tozzetti:

In the annals of American music, there is no other figure quite like Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990): conductor, composer, pianist, teacher, and media star. "Lenny," as his friends called him, was, from the 1940s onward, a durable part of the American fabric, the last classical artist ever to become a household name in the United States. Though widely celebrated-especially for his popular theater works, of which?West Side Story?is the enduring masterpiece, and for his presence on television as the nation's most renowned musical educator-his fame was not achieved without a great deal of controversy.

Michele Tozzetti accomplishes the task brilliantly. He finds the heartfelt tenderness in?Ilana, the Dreamer, brings out the Jewish elements in?Idele, the?Chassidele and animates the dance rhythms of?Yosi, the Jokester?(likely meant as a tribute to cartoonist Yossi Stern). The spirit of Aaron Copland hovers over all of this music; in the?Anniversary?dedicated to him,?For Aaron Copland?(in?Seven Anniversaries, 1943), Tozzetti captures the sound and spirit of the man Bernstein called "my first friend in New York, my master, my idol, my sage, my shrink, my guide, my counselor, my elder brother, [and] my beloved friend." The pianist reveals a delicate sense of sonority along with exquisite dynamic control in?For Paul Bowles, and musters the perfect aggressive edginess to bring to life?For Sergei Koussevitzky.?He injects youthful vigor into Bernstein's Sonata (1937), a probing work rich in counterpoint, written when the composer was still a student.

Various:

Impulse! has brought together some of the great progressive jazz musicians of our time to pay tribute to The Beatles'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A Day In The Life: Impressions of Pepper will be available on vinyl for Record Store Day on November 23, available on CD, digital, and streaming platforms on November 30, with a wide vinyl release on January 18, 2019.

A Day In The Life: Impressions of Pepper includes performances and interpretations by artists such as UK saxophonist and Impulse! recording artist Shabaka Hutchings, Impulse! pianist Sullivan Fortner, Verve recording artist Miles Mosley, Onyx Collective, percussionist Antonio Sanchez, guitarist Mary Halvorson, The JuJu Exchange and more. 

This stellar lineup represents some of the great progressive jazz artists from around the world: Shabaka from the UK Jazz scene, Miles Mosley and Cameron Graves from LA's West Coast Get Down, Onyx Collective from NYC, Makaya McCraven and the JuJu Exchange from Chicago.  

Cast Albums:

Sony Masterworks Broadway announces today's release of RENT – ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK OF THE FOX TELEVISION EVENT, featuring music from the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical RENT, as performed by the star-studded cast of FOX's television event, the soundtrack is produced by Stephen Oremus, executive-produced by Marc Platt and co-produced by Derik Lee.

The soundtrack features performances by actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens (Maureen Johnson), singer/songwriter Jordan Fisher (Mark Cohen), recording artist Tinashe (Mimi Marquez), actress Kiersey Clemons (Joanne Jefferson), newcomer and singer/songwriter Brennin Hunt (Roger Davis), R&B/Pop superstar Mario (Benjamin Coffin III), performer Valentina (Angel Dumont Schunard) and Emmy nominee and Tony Award winner Brandon Victor Dixon (Tom Collins).  Additionally, Keala Settleperforms the iconic solo from "Seasons of Love."

Joyce DiDonato:

Joyce DiDonato with Craig Terry, Charlie Porter, Chuck Israels, Jimmy Madison & Lautaro Greco

With her album Songplay, Joyce DiDonato takes a new and creative angle on vocal music from the Baroque and Classical periods, as well as from the 20th century. The 14 tracks on Songplay succeed in being simultaneously familiar and unexpected. The album serves up music by Vivaldi in both its customary Baroque purity and swinging to the heady rhythm of a samba. It brings a tango sizzle to an aria by Vivaldi's contemporary Marcello, and it plays with the voice of Bach in George Shearing's ‘Lullaby of Birdland'.   

"Songplay, as a title, suggests exactly what this album is," says the pianist Craig Terry, who developed the concept for the album along with Joyce DiDonato.

John Coltrane:

A selection of Coltrane's 1963 Impulse! recordings, derived from the original albums Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, Dear Old Stockholm, Newport ‘63 and Live at Birdland

In the brief, bright arc that is the career of John Coltrane, 1963 marks a point of transition between past jazz masterpieces and future work, which would transcend the boundaries of the music itself.  That year's recorded output shows movement in many directions: a look back at the past, continued examination of a familiar repertoire, exploration of more traditional formats and a look forward at compositions and approaches that would further extend the reach of jazz.

Petr Aleksander:

Pêtr Aleksänder's debut album Closer, Still is an indie classical record. The London-based duo of Eliot James and Tom Hobden have each forged successful music careers respectively over the past decade, but this is the first project they can call their own.

For James, who has produced albums for countless well-known artists, Pêtr Aleksänder is free from the constraints of what he's used to. "We're not thinking about which track would be good for radio, but more like ‘this piece is really beautiful, it would probably work really well in a film'", he offers.

Each album track grew organically from the seed of a melody or chord pattern. "Working in this genre is so much more freeing," says Hobden, who rose to fame during the mid-‘00s UK indie-folk explosion as a founding member of Noah & The Whale. He praises the fluidity of crafting instrumental-only music. "Our pieces naturally segue into each other. You finish a track and follow where the music leads from there."

Khatia Buniatishvili:

Having blazed her way into public consciousness with her fearlessness on stage as well as on record, Georgian-born pianist Khatia Buniatishvili has become known for her distinctive artistic approach and bold interpretive flair, which combine to make her playing and performances both unmistakable and unmissable.

Pablo Aslan:

At the suggestion of bandoneonist, arranger, and composer Raúl Jaurena, I set out to create a body of work for bass and string quartet, in order to feature the bass not only as foundation and a melodic instrument, but as a driver of rhythm. As I was mulling over the idea, I got an invitation from Cho-Liang Lin, Artistic Director of the La Jolla Music Festival, to play a concert with Paquito D'Rivera and the Escher String Quartet in 2016. In turn, Pac-man, as he calls himself, invited me to bring some repertoire to the musical shindig, and thus the album was off to a start. I enlisted my teacher and friend Gabriel Senanes, who lives in Buenos Aires, to write and arrange several pieces. This led naturally to inviting him to be the Artistic Producer. He contributed two mini-concerti that sent me to the practice shed for months and forced me to up my game, a common thread throughout the making of this album.

SYML:

Brian Fennell is a student of simplicity. As SYML (pronounced "simmel"), which translates to "simple" in Welsh, Fennell writes emotive songs that capture the ethos of his musical persona. Ultimately his songs are a kind and truthful depiction of emotion grounded by his gut-wrenching vocal delivery. His eponymous self titled debut album (SYML) will release May 3, 2019 and is mixed by Grammy award winning engineer Joe Visciano (Beck, Adele), SYML by SYML is 12 tracks of transcendent and emotional dream-pop, synth-rock, and cathartic, uplifting emotion. Additional album standouts including "Bed," "Girl" and "Connor" touch upon reflections on fatherhood, family and overcoming hardship. The album also includes breakout single, "Where's My Love," which has over 300 million combined streams and over 20 placements and is Certified Platinum in Canada and Gold in the Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium

Cecilia Bartoli:

Almost 20 years after her historic Vivaldi album, Cecilia Bartoli turns to the composer once again for her brand new solo recording, Antonio Vivaldi. The album is a glorious collection of Vivaldi arias, performed with French baroque orchestra Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi. This new release also marks 30 years since Bartoli signed to Decca Classics.

Cecilia Bartoli's 1999 recording The Vivaldi Album redefined her status as an artist: for the first time, she was widely appreciated as a rescuer of neglected or forgotten music, in her dual role as meticulous researcher and passionate interpreter.

The Vivaldi Album shone a spotlight on the Italian as a composer of vocal works, sparking a revival in the operas of Vivaldi, who had hitherto been primarily known for his concerti. The album sold 700,000 copies in five years and went Gold in six countries. It paved the way for similarly trailblazing releases, including the Italian arias of Christoph Willibald Gluck, the legendary castratos (on the album Sacrificium) and Bartoli's personal 19th-century hero, the mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran.

Nina June:

Nina June is an Amsterdam based artist and songwriter who found inspiration for her songs during a 700-mile solitary walk through France and Spain. Here she would listen to the film music of Thomas Newman (American Beauty) and Michael Nyman (The Piano), as well as the ethereal pop of Rhye and Zero7. During this trip, Nina experienced life at its most pure and basic. On March 23rd, 2018, she released her album Bon Voyage in a sold out Paradiso Amsterdam. Her music had been heard by millions of ears through Spotify by that time already. The album is a display of Nina's view of the world; 'It's about the hidden loneliness of our generation. We are all young, beautiful and talented. But also searching. For love, freedom, and our personal mission. We have never been so interconnected, yet we are alone on this journey. Bon Voyage is a greeting to everyone who faces this quest.' Bon Voyage was mainly self produced by Nina and her musical companion Lieuwe Roonder. To finish the album, Nina worked with Tim Bran (London Grammar, Paul McCartney, Birdy) in London. They combine both classical organic elements and modern electronic production. The result: a series of atmospheric, cinematic pop songs. After a successful club tour throughout the Netherlands and a showcase at the Indie Week New York, Nina receives the "Zilveren Notekraker" in Paradiso in September 2018, an award for the most remarkable artistic accomplishment of the past year.  PRESSQUOTES: 'Impassioned and heartfelt, she forwards a particularly sultry, alluring brand of urbane pop which calls to mind the likes of Massive Attack and Zero7 - with lush electronics and sensual seductive vocals' - Black Book (New York, US) 'Vocally, Nina June evokes comparisons with Ane Brun and Agnes Obel, but her artistic vision paints itself from a very different emotional palate to create a unique and poignant sound' - Electronic North (UK) 'the piano ballad brings forth ideas of London Grammar synced to a plaintive orchestra of Agnes Obel, each swell in movement is purposefully delivered and thoroughly felt. Twinning both classical organic elements to modern electronic production' - Bitter Sweet Symphonies (UK) 'An album full of highlights" - Out Here All Night (USA)

Katarzyna Musial:

With the release of My Spanish Heart (DUX recordings) pianist Katarzyna Musial builds upon her previous successful recording Come Dance with Me. My Spanish Heart continues to explore the idiom of dance through musical expression with this time focusing on renowned Spanish composers. My Spanish Heart is now available to stream and download on all popular digital service providers and for retail purchase.

In this album, Katarzyna Musial revels in the artistic and cultural splendors of the Iberian peninsula. "You don't have to be born in a culture to be enamored with it," she explains. In fact, her love affair with Spain was first sparked during childhood when, at five years old, she simply fell in love with the country upon a visit with her parents.

Maurizio Pollini:

Maurizio Pollini, "the pre-eminent Chopinist of his generation" (Fanfare), continues his revelatory and chronological re-exploration of the Polish master's late works. This album contains the pianist's latest thoughts on Opp. 55–58 (1843/4), including the B minor Sonata and Berceuse.

Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra:

Decca Records is thrilled to reveal details of the forthcoming album from Hollywood icon Jeff Goldblum and his long-time band The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, entitled The Capitol Studios Sessions. The highly anticipated debut from the jazz pianist will be released on November 9, 2018.

Goldblum, who has been playing the piano since he was a child, has performed with his jazz band at venues in Los Angeles and New York City over the past few decades. When he's not filming, the actor hosts a weekly jazz variety show at LA's Rockwell Table and Stage. Frequented by locals and A-listers alike, the show intersperses Goldblum's love of jazz with his passion and skills at improvised comedy.

The atmosphere and energy of these shows is captured perfectly on this album, which Jeff credits to producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Madeleine Peyroux). For the recording, Larry recreated the buzz of The Rockwell at the legendary Capitol Studios. The studio was transformed into a jazz club – food and drink was served to an invited live studio audience of Rockwell regulars, friends and family. 

Soundtracks:

Sony Music, Netflix, Participant Media, and Esperanto Filmoj present the Motion Picture Soundtrack of ROMA, which is available through all digital platforms, on the same day that the film premieres on Netflix.

Curated by the director Alfonso Cuarón and the soundtrack producers Lynn Fainchtein and Randall Poster, the soundtrack of ROMA brings us back to the sonic Mexico of the 1970s, when the famous XEW, a reference of Mexican radio, transmitted English pop and rock, while gradually introducing the new Mexican pop, through performers like José José, Juan Gabriel, and Rigo Tovar, musical icons that in the present, have remained as references of Mexican and Latin American music.

Brian Newman:

Trumpeter and singer Brian Newman's first album for Verve, SHOWBOAT, is out today and features a brand new track with his long-time friend and colleague 

LADY GAGA on "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," a song that was first recorded by Nina Simone in 1964, and subsequently covered by The Animals. Joe Cocker and Elvis Costello among a host of other artists through the decades.  Brian explains, "Please Don't let Me Be Misunderstood was on a short list of songs we wanted to record with LG. Our choices of how to arrange this song and every song always stays true to our original sound as a band. While steeped in the tradition of the Great American Songbook and at the same time we are pushing the boundaries of the music we know and love. LG makes that very easy for us because of her great range and vast knowledge of the music. We didn't want to do what was already done and make it our own. This definitely shines on this track and I'm excited for everyone to hear it!"

Radical Face:

Bear Machine Records is excited to announce the release of "Missing Film" by indie-folk artist Radical Face. Known for his cinematic and emotional music, Ben Cooper wrote and produced this 12 song collection with film makers in mind, focusing on mood and entirely instrumental arrangements -- a direct contrast to his traditional concept and story-driven albums. He has partnered with Noisetrade to give away the album, and is offering the music to students, young directors and content creators to use for free use in all non-commercial media.

Rafal Blechacz | Bomsori Kim:

For his first ever chamber music recording on Deutsche Grammophon, pianist Rafal Blechacz teams up with Korean violinist Bomsori Kim. Polish melancholy and French elegance have a wonderfully symbiotic relationship in music, famously illustrated in the works of Frédéric Chopin, a composer who was Polish by birth and settled in France. For their first album together, Kim and Blechacz perform gems from both countries, including works by Fauré, Debussy, Szymanowski, and of course, Chopin.

Cast Albums:

THE PROM – ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING is available on from Sony Masterworks Broadway.  Produced by Scott M. Riesett and Tony Award Nominee Matthew Sklar, with music by Sklar and lyrics by four-time Tony Award Nominee Chad Beguelin, the album is also available to stream and download everywhere now.  The Prom cast celebrated the release with two CD signing events – at the annual BroadwayCon fan convention and at Theatre Circle.

Giuliano Carmignola:

Giuliano Carmignola has earned his reputation as one of the top interpreters of Baroque music. Following his critically-acclaimed recording of the Bach Concertos, the "prince among Baroque violinists" (Gramophone) releases a new interpretation of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, adding the first period-instrument recording of these works to DG's rich catalog. 

Daniel Pemberton:

Sony Music proudly announces the release of SPIDER-MAN™: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) featuring original music by multiple Golden Globe nominee Daniel Pemberton. The soundtrack will be released digitally and on CD on December 17, 2018. Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations' Spider-Man™: Into the Spider-Verse will debut in U.S. theaters on December 14.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the creative minds behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, bring their unique talents to a fresh vision of a different Spider-Man Universe, with a groundbreaking visual style that's the first of its kind. Spider-Man™: Into the Spider-Verse introduces Brooklyn teen Miles Morales, and the limitless possibilities of the Spider-Verse, where more than one can wear the mask.

Roman Rabinovich:

Roman Rabinovich continues Haydn love affair with new recording series

The pianist Roman Rabinovich is currently recording all of Haydn's piano sonatas First Hand Records, with the 2nd volume set for release later this year. A great champion of Haydn's music, his explorations of the keyboard sonatas have included a 42-sonata cycle at The Bath Festival and partial cycles at Lammermuir Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland and the Israel Conservatory of Music. 

Rabinovich has earned a reputation for bringing Haydn's often-neglected keyboard works to life, praised by The New York Times for "admirable interpretations, performed with a rich, full-blooded sound, singing lines and witty dexterity" (Vivien Schweitzer, April 2016). This first volume includes two CDs featuring Piano Sonatas Nos. 36, 32, 29, 52 and 47, as well as Divertimento in E-flat. 

Vienna Philharmonic:

There are few concerts in the world that are awaited with as much excitement as the New Year's Concert from Vienna. Under the direction of Christian Thielemann, the Vienna Philharmonic ushers in the New Year with a concert in the magnificent Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.

The concert is relayed to over ninety countries all round the world, reaching an audience of more than fifty million.

The 2019 New Year's Concert will be conducted for the first time by Christian Thielemann. A native of Berlin, Thielemann has been a regular and welcome guest of the Vienna Philharmonic since 2000, with the result that his first New Year's Concert may be seen as setting an example and providing an appropriate tribute to his previous work with the orchestra. According to the orchestra's chairman, Daniel Froschauer, orchestra and musicians trust each other completely: "The profound musical understanding and trust that have existed from the outset and that have always functioned perfectly have subsequently borne remarkable fruit in the symphonic repertory as well."

Hee-Young Lim:

Hee-Young was appointed as the Principal Solo Cellist of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She was one of the first female Asian cellists ever lead a section in a major European orchestra. In 2018, she was invited to join the teaching faculty of the Beijing Central Conservatory, the first Korean professor ever appointed to this prestigious conservatory. Praised by the Washington Post as "a deeply gifted musician, with a full, singing tone, near- flawless technique and a natural lyricism that infused nearly every note she played," cellist Hee- Young Lim has quickly established herself as one of the most charismatic and fast-rising cellists of her generation.

Riccardo Chailly:

2018 marks 250 years since Gioachino Rossini's death in 1868. Messa per Rossini was composed in his memory by Verdi and 12 other notable Italian composers. Verdi himself composed the concluding Libera me, which he later used in his own Messa da Requiem. Conducted by Riccardo Chailly, this rare performance represents the work's triumphant return to the spiritual home of Verdi and Rossini: the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

Roberto Prosseda:

Roberto Prosseda continues his Mendelssohn project on the orchestral front with this ambitious recording of Piano Concerts No. 1 and 2 and of the Rondò Brillant op.29. He is accompanied by the Residentie Orkest The Hague, a historical Dutch orchestra founded in 1904 that in the course of its activity has collaborated with great composers (Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Max Reger, Maurice Ravel, Paul Hindemith) and famous conductors (Arturo Toscanini , Bruno Walter, Leonard Bernstein, Hans Knappertsbusch).

This recording was made under the baton of Jan Willem de Vriend, principal conductor of the orchestra, and also includes a superb reading of the Overture "The Hebrides" to complete the CD. 

Alfie Boe:

Returning to the solo spotlight after two successful albums with Michael Ball, Alfie Boe's As Time Goes By pays homage to the golden era of music from the ‘30s and ‘40s. The new album journeys through the defining songs of the era - from the full force of "Sing Sing Sing" to the slow and smooth "The Way You Look Tonight" and "As Time Goes By."

Lyn Stanley:

In this stunning new collection - London Calling…A Toast To Julie London,listeners will discover a side of singer Lyn Stanley that they haven't heard before. The 17 tunes on this recording explore phases of romance from first glance in ‘Blue Moon' to a missed chance in Cry Me a River.'  Most of the wide-ranging material presented here was originally recorded by singer/actress Julie London, along with a couple of offerings that Stanley feels would have been perfect for the sultry songstress, such as "It's Impossible," and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine."

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra:

In order to appease the somewhat provincial tastes of King Louis XV, composer Jean-Philippe Rameau and his librettist Voltaire altered the original version of Le Temple de la Gloire, and for centuries it was lost.  The manuscript was discovered-at the University of California, Berkeley's Jean Hargrove Music Library and was brought to the attention of conductor Nicholas McGegan.  For decades, maestro McGegan dreamed of reviving the original work-a dream realized in April 2017 through a partnership between Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, Centre de musique de Versailles in France and New York Baroque Dance Company.

Formosa Quartet:

From Hungary to Taiwan is a milestone album from the award-winning Formosa Quartet. Released by Bridge Records, the album pairs three imaginative new works with Béla Bartók's towering Fourth String Quartet, a nod to the group's Taiwanese heritage and a celebration of "folk", in every sense of the word.

The program juxtaposes two pairs: Hungarian folk music in two representations, and Taiwanese folk music in two representations. Formosa Quartet decided to commission composers Dana Wilson, Lei Liang, and Wei-Chieh Lin to create this fascinating view of cultural identity.

Matthew Lipman:

Dmitri Shostakovich's long-lost Impromptu for Viola and Piano, Op. 33, recently unearthed in the Moscow State Archives, receives its world-premiere recording on Matthew Lipman's Ascent, the acclaimed young American violist's solo debut album, featuring, in the artist's words, "music enraptured by flights of fantasy." Recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Lipman has created an album of uplifting and spiritually transcendent works for viola and piano, dedicated to his late mother.

Michael Fine:

The scores of composer Michael Fine are born from his improvisations on the piano and are nourished by his travels and his readings: his music derives from a poetic imagination and carries therefore lots of visual evocations. From Korea and its palaces (At the Gate) to Scotland and the writer Alexander McCall Smith (Brother Fox), the world and its landscapes pass by over the seasons (Seasonal Rites) as you listen to it.

A sound immersion all the more successful due to the fact that Michael Fine is also a Grammy winning producer for his expertise in sound recording.

What's more, as himself a performer, Michael Fine has written music for musicians. This recording is the faithful testimony of a collective adventure where musicians share their pleasure to play and then offer it to the public.

Angele Dubeau & La Pieta:

In December 2017, with two sold-out concerts at the Maison symphonique de Montréal, the tour celebrating Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà's 20th anniversary came to an end. This tour of thirty-three concerts was, for the violinist, an opportunity to thank her Quebec fans for the support they had given her throughout her career.

It was on that tour, during the concerts at Palais Montcalm in Quebec City, that Ovation was recorded. This new album features a retrospective program composed of works by the likes of Einaudi, Richter, Glass, Enescu and Saint-Saens and which have been landmarks of the first 20 years of La Pietà's career. The album also showcases a violinist at the top of her form and a concert where magic and perfection are in symbiosis.

Nemanja Radulovic:

Following his recording journeys into the traditions of Eastern Europe (Journey East), Russia (Tchaikovsky), and the Baroque (Bach), violinist Radulović now turns to the East with his new album, Baïka, the Serbian word for "fairytale." The album features Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, newly arranged by Serbian composer Aleksandar Sedlar, as well as Khachaturian‘s Violin Concerto and Trio for clarinet, violin, and piano, performed with clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer and pianist Laure Favre-Kahn.

Vikingur Olafsson:

Following his critically acclaimed recording of piano works by Philip Glass, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson will release his second concept album, Bach, on Deutsche Grammophon on September 7, 2018 (CD released 9/14). The album is available for pre-order everywheretoday.

Renowned for his innovative musical projects, Ólafsson offers listeners a very personal vision of Bach's intricate keyboard music on his new recording – artfully weaving Bach's original works together with transcriptions by Busoni, Kempff, Ziloti, Rachmaninov and Ólafsson himself. Ólafsson will also perform some of the repertoire from the album live at venues including London's LSO St Luke's, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk (Denmark), Hamburg's Laeiszhalle, and the Berlin Philharmonie during the 2018-19 season.

The Piano Guys:

Utah sensation The Piano Guys release an all-new album Limitless (Portrait/Sony Music Masterworks) on November 9. On Limitless, The Piano Guys showcase their talent for reinventing the music of any genre, from contemporary pop and rock hits to classical compositions, Hollywood scores and even never-before-heard originals.  Also, catch them on their U.S. tour, which kicks off in their home state of Utah on November 7 and continues through early 2019.

"As we go through life's cycles, sometimes we face the sun and sometimes we face stars that stretch on forever. We may extend our reach so far away from us at times that we forget we only need to look within to rediscover who we actually are and soar. We are limitless. We hope that's the way this music makes you feel." – The Piano Guys 

Imogen Heap:

Written, composed, performed and recorded by Grammy and Ivor Novello Award-winner Imogen Heap, The Music of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is presented as four contemporary musical suites, each showcasing one of the play's theatrical acts.  This unique new album format from Imogen Heap chronologically features the music heard in the stage production, further reworked to transport listeners on a sonic journey through the world of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

2CELLOS:

The Croatian duo of Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, better known as 2CELLOS, today release their much-anticipated new album, Let There Be Cello, via Sony Music Masterworks – available everywhere now.  A follow-up to the 2017 release of Score, Let There Be Cello finds the pair exploring a diverse catalogue with their signature boundary-breaking playing style.  Known for their electric live performances, 2CELLOS now gear up to take their newest album on the road for their first-ever U.S. arena tour, which is set to kick off February 2019.

Various:

Many people picture grim-faced Beethoven, shaking his fist at the heavens and persisting through deafness and illness to compose works of transcendent beauty, but he also stirs emotions that feel both deeply personal and ubiquitous. There are moments of red-cheeked optimism, quiet introspection, playful dances, heroic declarations, a restless search for the sublime. And while Beethoven is perhaps most famous for his sonatas and symphonies, he composed an opera, chamber works, songs, sacred music, incidental music for the stage, even dances. Taken together, these selections paint a rich portrait of Beethoven's humanity, which has attracted artists of the highest caliber such as Leonard Bernstein, Carlos Kleiber, Janine Jansen, and Martha Argerich. Some of these recordings are legendary, but all of them jump out with their undeniable virtuosity and brilliance. This collection may remind you of that iconic portrait of immortal Genius suffering for Art, but it will also reacquaint you with an artist from another time who somehow captured so much of the human experience.

Bryn Terfel:

After five years, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel returns with the new studio album, Dreams and Songs. Acclaimed worldwide for tackling the biggest opera roles, Terfel's new album shows his lighter side with popular concert pieces recorded in brand new orchestral versions of traditional Welsh songs, musical hits, and beloved encores. Among the pieces on his new album are "If I Were A Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof, Welsh folk song "Ar Lan y Môr," and Irish ballad "The Fields of Athenry."