New Releases

The name Verdi is synonymous with Italian opera. No other composer embodies all the fascination and passion of Italian music drama like Verdi. The special magic of his music comes out especially vividly when it's performed by the very greatest of vocal stars: Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé and Mirella Freni.

Together with the Requiem, Mozart's C minor mass is one of the brilliant composer's great unfinished sacred works. The work combines monumental power, solemn spirituality and moving solo passages. This recording under the baton of Baroque and Classical expert Raymond Leppard has great expressive depth, and offers a truly legendary vocal ensemble featuring stars like Kiri Te Kanawa and Ileana Cotrubas.

Sir Neville Marriner is one of the most versatile conductors of our time. Alongside his recordings of Baroque and Classical repertoire, he has also made a name for himself as an interpreter of Romantic orchestral music, as this compilation shows: it contains popular works from the highly colourful French and Russian repertoire, including new discoveries like Tchaikovsky's Barcarole, which can certainly hold a candle to the famous work of the same name by Offenbach, and the Berceuse by opera composer Benjamin Godard.

The fascination that Johann Sebastian Bach held for subsequent generations of composers is evident in the many arrangements of his works for piano: those by Liszt, Busoni and others are profound interpretations by admirers of the Baroque master. For a long time, this remarkable repertoire was overshadowed by the originals, and we owe it to Alexis Weissenberg and Bruno-Leonardo Gelber that it now enjoys worldwide recognition.

When Rudolf Kempe was principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic back in the 1970's, the culmination of his long career was the recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies – an edition marked by maturity and the highest artistic standards. These recordings are one of the highlights of the Red Line series, and with this CD featuring Symphonies nos. 2 & 4 the entire set has now been reissued.

No other composer depicted the typical French effervescence and easy-going Parisian lifestyle so accurately, coupled with biting satire of the powers-that-be, as Jacques Offenbach. This album offers a cross-section of music from five of his successful operettas in a thoroughly authentic and spirited interpretation by French mezzo Jane Rhodes.

The magnificent gardens of the Spanish royal palace of Aranjuez gained a place in music history thanks to the Rodrigo guitar concerto. This recording with Angel Romero is a highlight in the famous guitarist's large discography; here, he plays two concertos by Rossini contemporary and guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani in addition to the "Concierto de Aranjuez".