After two albums devoted to Italian bel canto and De Falla's Spain respectively, the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France heads to France and invite us to dance with a third collection dedicated to ballet music created at the Paris Opera. Rare and unfairly overlooked, La Bien aimée is a gem of collage technique, Milhaud's work juxtaposing the music of Schubert and Liszt and arranging it for pianola (player piano) and orchestra. Meanwhile, Stravinsky's Firebird, that incontrovertible masterpiece, transports us to the enchanting world of Russian fairy tales under Enrique Mazzola's exalted baton.

It was the start of a career that was going to develop quickly on all continents. He played in most European countries as well as the United States, Canada, Brazil, South Korea, China, Australia and Japan and took part in many important festivals such as Paris, Berlin, Bordeaux, Hong Kong, Besançon, Shanghai, Seoul Spring Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron and Duszniki.

Alongside its ongoing much-lauded Copland series, the BBC Philharmonic embarks on a new American journey, this time with its chief guest conductor, John Storgårds.

Les Concerti da Camera constituent un cas unique dans le panorama de la musique italienne de la première moitié du XVIIIe siècle : Vivaldi est en effet le seul musicien de cette époque à adopter le style et le langage concertants sous une forme chambriste.

Dreams are dreams – but this thing really happened. The violin and the tuba could not be more different as instruments, but the biographies of Benjamin Schmid and Andreas Martin Hofmeir have some similarities: both have been award-winners at the ECHO Classics (Hofmeir was the first tuba player ever to win one); both are professors at the renowned Salzburg Mozarteum; and both are equally at home in classical music and in jazz.