Grieg: Peer Gynt: Solveig's Song (Solveigs vuggesang, Schlaf, du teuerster Knabe mein!, Cradle Song)

Karajan Adagio is the most successful classical collection of all time with nearly 4 million units sold since 1993. It has now been re-engineered, re-titled, and newly compiled for the 21st century.

“Adagio Karajan” was the ORIGINAL CLASSICAL CHILL-OUT ALBUM. Over two-and-a-half hours of the world’s most relaxing music – from the most accomplished conductor of all time. Emphasizing classical music’s unique power in transporting the listener away from the stresses and strains of modern-day living - All over the world, consumers are searching for an escape, and the soothing sounds of “Karajan Adagio” can provide that.

“Adagio” – the literal translation is “at ease”, with a slowness, with a tranquillity, and with a longing – the perfect antidote to the relentless pace of modern global living.

Acclaimed and cherished as one of Australia’s finest operatic artists, Nance Grant had a voice possessed with beauty and power, an ease of technique, a perfection of phrasing and taste that cemented her place in the hearts of Australian music lovers. This long overdue tribute presents one of the great sopranos from down under - in recordings previously thought lost.

Nance Grant chose to stay close to her family in Australia rather than pursue an international career, even though Sir Edward Downes insisted he could ‘fill her books’ with performances in Britain and Europe. So this double album offers those who never had the opportunity to hear her, the gift of discovering a voice of magnitude and generosity, and for those who grew up hearing her on stage, the chance to reacquaint themselves with her artistry.

The original tapes from radio broadcasts of the 1960s and ’70s have been carefully restored to give more than a hint of the majesty of Nance Grant in a characteristic range of repertoire. The recordings represent significant landmarks in the development of opera in Australia: the emerging Victorian State Opera’s enormously successful Idomeneo, re di Creta, and Maria Stuarda under the direction of Richard Divall; Australian Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Fidelio and Tannhäuser with Sir Edward Downes; and one of the first of the Australian Opera/ABC collaborations presenting concert performances of Wagner operas, with Grant as Sieglinde in Die Walküre conducted by Leif Segerstam.

The programme also pays homage to Nance’s considerable concert career, including a complete song recital - Greig, Richard Hageman and Richard Strauss - with pianist Geoffrey Parsons, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and an excerpt from Mendelssohn’s Elijah.

Grieg received his formal musical education in Germany and as a young man was advised to concentrate on symphonies. Nevertheless he felt more comfortable composing miniatures inspired by his native Norway.

Although labelled ‘Favourites’ this collection features some less familiar recordings that surely deserve to be all-time classics: Malko’s 1953 version of the Lyric Suite has been eagerly awaited as has Weldon’s

superlative recording of the Norwegian Dances. Another gem is Emmy Bettendorf’s Solveig’s Song, performed with ‘precisely such a tone as Grieg taught his wife to sing Solveig’s refrain’ (Gramophone 1929) and to complete the programme there are five extracts from Weldon’s Peer Gynt Suites, a handful of Gieseking’s Lyric Pieces and Münchinger’s Holberg Suite.

Alois Mühlbacher, the St. Florian choirboy has performed on the stage of the Vienna State Opera, impressing all who have heard him. On his debut CD he performs works which hitherto have been beyond the reach of any boy soprano with youthful lightheartedness and vocal genius.

World famous Danish Trombonist, Carstens Svanberg, has recorded a programme which will delight all listeners. Accompanied on the organ by Danish organist, Birgit Marcussen, this release explores new music along with firm favourites and is bound to be a hit.

The winner of numerous international awards as a producer of both pop and classical recordings, Craig Leon also leads a career as a composer. His album for Joshua Bell of transcriptions for violin and orchestra was unanimously acclaimed everywhere, which prompted him quite naturally to turn to the cello after meeting Ophélie Gaillard when she was giving a concert at the Wigmore Hall. He has created new arrangements for her, reviving the long standing tradition of cellists, from Gregor Piatigorsky to Pablo Casals who played popular transcriptions of great works on their instruments. Ophélie is accompanied by the RPO, recorded at Abbey Road studios and supported by CIC who loaned her magnificent Gofriller cello.

“the rich tones of Ophélie Gaillard’s 1737 Gofriller cello complement her warm lyrical style and add colour to a keen awareness of instrumental vocalisation.” The Strad, June 2010

“In the works by Grieg, we wanted there to be unity in the language. So To brune ojne and Jeg elsker dig, by the Danish poet Andersen, are sung in Norwegian. The songs of Op. 48, settings of various German poems, were translated by the poet Nordahl Rolfsen, who was a close friend of Grieg’s. And I have chosen to sing his translations of the two German poems, by Goethe and von Bodenstedt: En drøm (Ein Traum) and I rosentiden (Zur Rosenzeit). They are usually sung in German. In Grieg there is no tragedy, but instead a gentle Nordic melancholy.

In Sibelius, on the other hand, nature is brutal and love is passionate. Never has the personification of nature been as present as it is in these songs. Here, everything evokes the end of winter and the gushing waters of spring (Marssno, Men min fagel), betrayal (Se n har jag, Flickan kom ifran), despair and weariness with life, conveyed by the image of a rose tree growing in the heart (Svarta rosor); I thought it was interesting to include the song En slanda, in which the music, rather than the poem itself, evokes a dragonfly, symbolising the pleasures of life which come to distract the mind of a person who is lost in thought. The idea of completing this recording with Debussy’s very sensual evocations of amorous desire expressed in the three Chansons de Bilitis came quite naturally. Apparition is for me one of Mallarmé’s finest poems, and in his setting Debussy conveys perfectly the ecstatic yet unsettling feelings caused by love at first sight.

We chose to end this recording with Beau Soir. This infinitely gentle song invites us to contemplate nature and the natural cycle of water and of human life.” Karen Vourc’h

Karen Vourc’h studies with Christa Ludwig. In 2010, she will be Annina in Menotti's Saint of Bleeker Street at the Opéra de Marseille, Musetta at the Opéra de Monaco, Mélisande at the Opéra Comique, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and Vincenette (Mireille) at the Chorégies d' Orange. In March she shared the rôle of Emilie in Kaia Saariaho’s new opera, with Karita Mattila, to good reviews.

Soprano superstar Anna Netrebko steps away from the operatic stage to create her most personal and intimate album yet. Souvenirs is a gorgeous collection of short and sparkling pieces that allow Anna to display her amazing voice and temperament

“This recording is like a bridal bouquet, bursting with variety and colours,” says Anna Netrebko. “I want it to create a wonderful array of emotions – passion, fun, love, tenderness.”

The album includes repertoire from all over the world: songs in French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Latin, Czech, Yiddish, Spanish and – of course – Russian. These are pieces that are very close to Anna’s heart and include treasures by Dvorák, Grieg, Carlos Guastavino, Reynaldo Hahn, Offenbach, Richard Strauss, as well as rarely performed songs by Rimsky-Korsakov. For this special project, Anna is accompanied by conductor Emmanuel Villaume and the Prague Philharmonia. Villaume is well-known as the director of the Spoleto Festival (USA) and is a regular guest at major opera houses such as the Teatro La Fenice and the Met. He has previously worked with Anna in concert and is a perfect match for her passionate artistry. On this album Anna Netrebko has a few stunning guests to partner with her: Elina Garanca for Offenbach's Barcarole, Andrew Swait for Andrew Lloyd Webber's “Pie Jesu” (Requiem), Piotr Beczala for Heuberger's “Im Chambre Séparée”. Stunningly talented, gorgeous and intelligent, Netrebko already has the music world at her feet making this one of THE albums of 2008, eagerly awaited by her legions of fans as well as all music lovers worldwide.

Cap Box / Limited Edition: This will be the perfect Christmas gift package for the fans. It will have CD + booklet, bonus DVD, postcards and poster. A MUST HAVE!