George Frideric Handel

In his youth Georg Friedrich Handel went, like many of his compatriots, to Italy, to learn the new Italian style, in which the “arioso” element, the writing in fluent, tuneful melodic lines, was most important.These wonderful “Italian Duets” are the fruit of his studies, and show this German youngster as a true Italian maestro.

Two wonderful voices, ranking among the best in this particular field (Italian vocal baroque music): Gemma Bertagnolli and Susanne Rydén, backed by the period instruments ensemble Harmonices Mundi/Claudio Astronio.

Excellent liner notes, vocal texts available on www.brilliantclassics.com

The supreme master of the chamber duet genre was Agostino Steffani, recently celebrated by Cecilia Bartoli, and it is no coincidence that Handel had a manuscript copy of Steffani’s famous duets with him at the beginning of his stay in Rome. The Italian composer’s work was a model for the young musician from Saxony, an inspiration that left tangible traces in those very duets. There is a distinct network of connections between Handel’s duets, his other compositions and those of several of his contemporaries that bears witness to consistent borrowing. The duets are a case in point, revealing a criss-crossing of musical loans from one composition to another. Apart from Steffani, Handel also borrowed musical ideas from colleagues such as Giovanni Maria Clari and Pietro Torri, Dietrich Buxtehude and Antonio Caldara.

The duets continued to charm the world of music even after Handel’s death, when, with the exception of the grand oratorios, the rest of his output faded somewhat into the background. Each duet in this collection is preceded by a compatible instrumental piece, which acts as a sort of prelude. Although these latter compositions were originally written for the keyboard, they were also transcribed for various basso continuo instruments, which is how they are performed here. The practice of alternating instrumental and vocal pieces was typical of court and academy performance during the 1700s, and is well suited to Handel’s duets. Harmonices Mundi and Claudio Astronio have made fine recordings for Brilliant of several other Baroque composers. Here they are joined by two bright stars of the Baroque opera and vocal scene.

Admired for her remarkable creative imagination and exemplary musicianship, soprano Patricia Petibon, in her newest album for Deutsche Grammophon, offers a treasure-trove of fascinating Baroque curiosities guaranteed to enthral both the Baroque aficionado and the casual listener.

Nouveau Monde is conceived as a journey from the Old to the New World, a spell-binding collection of arias, songs and pieces from European composers (Charpentier, Händel, Rameau, Purcell) that testify to their composers’ fascination with the exoticism of recently-discovered lands, as well as South American folksongs which boast exceptional rhythmic energy and colour

Spectacularly accompanied by the La Cetra Baroque Orchestra under the excelling direction of Andrea Marcon – who also stands out as a Baroque organist and harpsichordist - Patricia enchants our senses with a mélange of 17th-century arias and folk songs from England, France, Spain, and Latin America

As a follow-up to her best-selling Rosso and Melancolía albums, Patricia Petibon’s 2012 release is guaranteed to be one of the most popular and sought-after Baroque releases of the year

On the occasion of Murray Perahia's 40th anniversary with Sony Classical in January 2013, we celebrate the fantastic pianist with this limited-edition set of all 67 CDs of his Sony Classical discography in original jacket facsimiles plus 5 DVDs and a 180-page book with new liner notes, rare photographs and complete discography - in deluxe box packaging. Explore the comprehensive overview of this extraordinary artist's recordings on Sony Classical.

67 CD + 5 DVD-set; DVDs packed separately in special rigid coverpak edition

* Size: L 28.8 cm x W 20.8 cm x H 17 cm

* Weight: 4.47 kg

* Audio playing time: 55 hours, 27 mins

* Includes a 5-DVD set

* 3 performances for the first time on DVD

* 2 BBC TV-programs previously unreleased

* 3 "first time on CD" releases

* All analogue and early digital recordings remastered

The centenary of the birth of the extraordinary British contralto Kathleen Ferrier, a singer who became a legend after her untimely death in 1952, is marked by a 10-CD set on the Documents label. These recordings from her all-too-short career present an outstanding artist who with her inspired singing and her legendary, darkly warm timbre achieved immortality.

Many of the recordings featured have become benchmarks, in particular her interpretations of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Kindertotenlieder. Her Brahms, Schubert, Schumann and Wolf are evidence that she was a great Lied singer. The set also includes sacred works by Pergolesi, Handel and Bach, together with a complete recording of Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice, as well as her wonderful interpretations of the traditional songs of her native country, sung with lightness of touch and devotion in equal measure.

Rodelinda stems from a period of great creativity in Handel’s life, 1724-25, following hard on Giulio Cesare and Tamerlano. Although it met with only moderate success. One of its first revivals was via the German Handel Society in the 1920s, and then the Handel Opera Society revived it again, with a cast including Joan Sutherland, during the 1959 celebrations of Handel’s bicentenary. It was one of Sutherland/Bonynge’s later Decca operatic collaborations (1985) and their only Handel opera they recorded together.

Handel’s ninth major opera for London, Alessandro was written as a showcase for the “Rival Queens”, the two famous Italian sopranos – Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni – whose supposed enmity, both personal and professional, not only generated good publicity for Handel’s latest opera but also added extra dramatic frisson to the two divas’ jealous clashes on stage.

Still something of a rarity even in this heyday of the Handel revival, Alessandro has only ever been recorded twice before over the past 30 years, and never previously with such a starry trio of singers in the three lead roles.

Marking the start of an exciting new partnership with the sensational Croatian counter-tenor Max Emanuel Cencic (and his company Parnassus Arts) that will involve both solo and ensemble recordings, this new recording stars Cenèiæ himself as Alexander the Great (a role originally sung by the legendary castrato Senesino), with acclaimed French Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin as the Scythian princess Lisaura, and the sensational young Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva – making her debut appearance as Decca’s latest exciting solo signing – in the role of Roxana, the Persian princess who finally wins the conqueror’s heart.

Recorded at the Megaron concert hall in Athens, this new recording of Handel’s classical epic features the period instruments of Armonia Atenea conducted by George Petrou, the brilliant young Baroque specialist whose previous recordings of Handel operas (Oreste, Arianna in Creta, Tamerlano, Giulio Cesare and the pasticcio Alessandro Severo) have won numerous international awards.