Tchaikovsky: Song: 'Was I not a blade of grass?' Op. 47 No. 7

Third release on ONYX from young Dutch mezzo and rising star Christianne Stotijn

Beautiful collection of 20 Tchaikovsky songs representing the whole range of his creative life from his first performed composition “My Genius, My angel, my friend,” written when we was 16, through to the last published song from the year of his death “Again, as before, alone”. Includes favourites such as “None but the Lonely Heart” and “Why?” but also rarely heard songs such as “Mild Stars Looked down”, “The Cuckoo” and “The Gypsy Song”

Christianne learnt Russian especially for this recording and toured it widely before recording it with her superb pianist Julius Drake. This recording should do much to re-evaluate Tchaikovsky as one of the greatest composers of song and not just a writer of pretty tunes.

Elena Kelessidi is one of opera’s most touching and fiery artists and the most international Greek soprano of today. Here she makes her recital debut with this heartfelt programme of songs from a country whose language is natural to her.

Born in Kazakhstan of Greek parentage, Kelessidi sprang to International attention in 1996 when she made a highly auspicious stage debut at London's Royal Opera House as Violetta in La traviata and was hailed as an important new discovery by the British musical press. She has returned to sing with the Royal Opera every year since and graced every important world opera house including Paris, the Met, Berlin and Vienna. Her signature roles apart from Violetta are Mimi in La Boheme and Liu in Turandot.

Elena’s programme runs the gamut of Russian song, from Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov, some familiar songs from Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov through to some real discoveries from Cui, Darghomyzhsky and the 20th century composer Vladmir Vlasov.

Elena’s pianist is the ever-superb Malcolm Martineau, also appearing this month on ONYX in Susan Graham’s recital, with previous ONYX releases from Amanda Roocroft and Barbara Bonney and a forthcoming recital from the outstanding Austrian bass-baritone Florian Boesch.

Anna Netrebko’s first live solo album and first Lieder album is accompanied by star conductor/pianist Daniel Barenboim. This was the concert event of the Salzburg Festival 2009 and your first Deutsche Grammophon priority of the year.

For her Salzburg recital, Anna Netrebko programmed an all Russian evening. Companioned by Barenboim’s masterful, idiomatic playing, Anna’s voluptuous voice surrenders completely to the haunting, soulful melodies of songs by Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, and others.

On the heels of her successful Russian Album – more than 270,000 copies sold and still selling strong – In the Still of Night is certain to soar.

“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