Recorded Thursday, February 23, 2017 at the Isabel Recording Studio in the Studio Theatre, Isabel Bader Centre For Performing Arts. Released February 27, 2017.

A unique figure on the international scene both as soloist and chamber musician, the violist Anna Serova has several compositions dedicated to her in recent years by some of the most important contemporary composers. In fact, by writing for her they have created a new genre in composition uniting the form of the concert piece with the action of an opera.

"…This nomadic anthology captures the pathos of the human condition with originality and verve. Multichannel SACD is an ideal medium for this music. The understated nuances of the various stringed instruments are reproduced with clear acoustics, whether it’s a prominent rhythm guitar, or delicate lute. Tonal quality of the voices is flawless. The depth and texture of the vocals (in particular the ensembles) refine the musical eminence." ~Audiophile Audition

Nowadays, Tchaikovsky’s 1st 3 symphonies seldom appear on the concert programmes, whereas his symphonies 4 to 6 – in other words, the symphonies generally recognized as masterpieces – are regularly included. Thus the 3 early symphonies share a fate that none of them have necessarily earned. After all, each in its own individual way is a worthwhile symphony: the composer certainly did not consider them to be preliminary works, a type of precursor to the later symphonies. From 1866 to 1878, Tchaikovsky taught harmony at the Moscow Conservatoire & during this period, he composed – among other works – his 1st 3 symphonies, namely in 1866, 1872, & 1875. For Tchaikovsky, the journey leading to the symphony was not easy: on the contrary, he trod a painful path before tapping into this high-end genre.

Hyperion is delighted to present Angela Hewitt’s third volume of Mozart piano concertos. Writing in The Observer, Stephen Pritchard wrote of the first volume that ‘Judging from this first example, it’s going to be a journey as revelatory as her exploration of all the major keyboard works of Bach’.

Gustav Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection’ with Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Rundfunkchor Berlin and star soloists Kate Royal and Magdalena Kožená was recorded in concert at Berlin’s Philharmonie in late October 2010. The Symphony, scored for orchestra, soloists and chorus, tackles the great mysteries of life and death and was already among the most successful and popular of Mahler’s symphonies during his lifetime. Not only was the work premiered by the Berliner Philharmoniker (in 1895) but it is an important work in Simon Rattle’s musical trajectory. The partnership of Sir Simon and the BPO in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 portends a ground-breaking new recording.

For 15 years, Jake Shimabukuro has been expanding the possibilities of the ukulele as an instrument, bringing it from its role as a cornerstone of Hawaiian music into the worlds of rock, jazz and classical music. This January, Shimabukuro assembled a trio and went into the studio with no music written beforehand, in hopes of coming up with some decent ideas and maybe recording a song or two. Six days later, they had recorded Nashville Sessions, a full album of original compositions, written on the spot and recorded live.

Triple platinum Grammy Award winner Regina Belle has scored major hits in multiple genres - a unique accomplishment. A Whole New World , the iconic theme song from Disney s Alladin, firmly established Regina Belle as a household word, her multiple top 10 R&B albums accomplished the same to the Urban audience, and most recently, her #1 gospel hit God Is Good catapulted her to the forefront of the gospel world!

Following his landmark recording of Giles Swayne's Stations of the Cross, organist Simon Niemiński returns with this engaging collection of organ works by Charles Villiers Stanford, the second volume dedicated to the Irish composer. Niemiński performs on the unspoilt 1913 Brindley and Foster organ of Freemasons' Hall in the heart of Edinburgh. Given a full restoration in 2009, this organ provides an ideal vehicle for authentic performances of this music. Included is Stanford's Organ Sonata No. 1, the triumphant Marcia Eroica and two world premieres: The Angelus and the beautifully simple early work Prelude on the Ancient Melody 'Jesu dulcis memoriae'.

Sudbin's recordings of Medtner's first and second piano concertos (BIS1588 and BIS1728) were widely admired, with the first disc nominated for a Gramophone Award and the second being dubbed an "Essential Recording" in BBC Music Magazine.

Several of the composers on this Archiv release – Alonso Lobo, Cristóbal de Morales, perhaps Francisco Guerrero – will be familiar to anyone who has sung in a college glee club. Their short motets, with orderly polyphony that seems to hang in a perfect balance, seem to communicate timeless religious essences. Less common are recordings that situate the music in the Spanish cities where it was composed, and that's not what is here.

Jean Rondeau, the imaginative young French harpsichordist, describes the Bach family as “one of the great dynasties of western music”. Having devoted his first Erato disc, Imagine, to works by the towering Johann Sebastian, he now returns to Bach’s world for his third release, Dynastie, which complements concertos by Johann Sebastian with concertos by his three most famous sons, Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emmanuel and Johann Christian.