Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Music for the Derek Deane Production for English National Ballet

In 1995, English National Ballet commissioned a score for a full length ballet, based on Lewis Carroll’s immortal masterpiece, Alice in Wonderland. The one stipulation and challenge was for a score to be based on the music of Tchaikovsky. Carl Davis accepted the challenge and a smash hit was born!

The centre of the score is derived from Tchaikovsky’s Album for the Young. Davis also drew on Tchaikovsky’s Theatre Music, Tone Poems and Operas, as well as the beautiful waltz from the Fifth Symphony for The Garden of Living Flowers. This highly successful production was revived many times, including performances at the Company’s London Coliseum seasons. Pittsburgh Ballet in the U.S. has already staged the ballet in April, 2008 and plan to continue performing it. ENB was invited to take the ballet to Hong Kong in March, 2009 and plans a further U.K. tour in 2010.

Alice in Wonderland marks the launch of the Carl Davis Collection. There are four projects planned for release in 2009: Alice in Wonderland; the prize-winning soundtrack to Hannah Davis and David Conolly’s feature film The Understudy; music for the BBC TV series Cranford and the ballet Cyrano commissioned from Carl Davis by The Birmingham Royal Ballet, choreographed by David Bintley and premiered in 2007. This ballet will go on a national tour including Sadler’s Wells in Autumn 2009.

The Carl Davis Collection has far-reaching plans to produce all major works on both CD and DVD of the compositions of Carl Davis. The Repertoire for the following two years is already in preparation.

“I want my singing to have drama, to send a message, sometimes people cry when they hear me-this is what's important. I want people to love me or hate me because of the emotion of my singing” Ewa Podles

Wigmore Hall Live proudly presents an all-Russian and Polish recital by the enigmatic Ewa Podles, widely regarded as the world’s leading contralto and one of the true great singers of our time.

Recorded live at Wigmore Hall on 23 January 2008, this release marked Ewa Podles´ return to the Wigmore Hall stage after an absence of sixteen years.

With her unique, dramatic voice of staggering range, agility and amplitude, Ewa Podles gives the kind of towering performance that has come to be expected of an artist who has acquired cult status and a near-fanatical following within the operatic world.

In addition to her rigorous operatic calendar, which notably includes her highly-publicised return this year to the Metropolitan Opera Stage after twenty-four years, Podles´ is one of the most acclaimed recital and concert performers in the world.

Accompanying Podles´ is the distinguished Garrick Ohlsson, whose solo performance of Szymanowski’s Masques “was a mastery display of sustained and imaginative virtuosity, matching the singer’s” Opera Now

Recordings made in 1952 and 1954.

Hot on the heels of her recent Shostakovich release, Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta exploits her incredibly warn, rich tone in this programme of attractive arrangements of popular classical works.

In the 30s through to the 50s of the last century, Russia’s greatest theatre could boast of a real constellation of superb opera singers. Each of them possessed a striking creative individuality, and when united in one acting ensemble, they created unique dramatic performances. This disc presents just five singers of that renowned company, and just a small bit of their repertoire.