Albinoni: Adagio for Strings and Organ in G minor

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.

For a half-century he had the reputation of the trumpet soloist: Maurice André, who died in 2012. The best examples of his radiant tone are the recordings he made with different organists – a brilliant stroll through the golden world of Baroque music.

Today’s leading virtuoso of the harp presents famous Baroque concerti by Albinoni, Marcello and Vivaldi in unique new arrangements.

“A selection of wonderful Baroque concerti by Venetian composers, like Marcello, Albinoni and Vivaldi – arranged for my instrument. In his famous “Winter” from The Four Seasons, the glass-like sounds of the harp create an ethereal mood astonishingly reproducing snowflakes and splintering icicles. So all these fantastic pieces which everyone knows suddenly seem fresh and new, and can be rediscovered thanks to the very special sound of the harp.” Xavier de Maistre

Xavier de Maistre is generally fêted as the artist who has managed to liberate the harp from its reputation for wonderful but very soft sounds, and establish it as a solo instrument in the concert hall.

On his new album "Notte Veneziana", the internationally successful harp virtuoso plays well-known concertos by the Venetian composers Vivaldi, Marcello and Albinoni in new arrangements, combining them with original compositions for solo harp such as the sonata by Giovanni Pescetti, Godefroid’s stunning set of variations on the popular tune “Carnaval de Venise”, and “La Mandoline” by 19th-century composer Elias Parish Alvars.

Xavier de Maistre's aim is to make the listener forget completely that most of the Baroque concertos heard here were not originally written for the harp, but for different melody instruments. He finds it fascinating to bring out new timbres in the arrangements, some of which he pens himself. Vivaldi's famous concerto "Winter", in particular, seems to him to be predestined for playing on the harp, and his interpretation does indeed present this often-heard work in a totally new guise.

“Xavier de Maistre is a virtuoso of the highest order, profoundly musical and capable of realizing a remarkable range of nuance.” (Gramophone)

Produced by EMI Classics in partnership with the prestigious National Gallery in London, The National Gallery Collection is a budget-price catalogue series bringing together the very best in fine art and classical music.

The collection features a selection of classical masterworks in celebrated recordings from the EMI Classics catalogue, brought together with great artworks from The National Gallery’s permanent collection.

Gabriela’s extraordinary ability as an improviser, rare in the classical world, is fast becoming her trademark. The passion, poetic musicality and sense of structure Gabriela brings to classical works translate to her classy improvisations. And no matter how complex the variations, the original melody always emerges triumphantly from a musical tapestry that might weave blues, jazz, tango, Bach or Debussy into a multihued framework. Such a skill for improvisation – to blend a vast range of styles – makes Gabriela an extremely rare talent. In “Baroque” Gabriela takes some of the best known Baroque themes, including Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major, Albinoni’s Adagio, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Boccherini’s Minuet and Handel’s Water Music, and brings to her classy improvisations the same passion, poetic musicality and sense of structure that she brings to classical works.