Award-winning Armenian pianist Lilit Grigoryan explores the art of the variation in her new recording with Orchid Classics entitled VARIATIONS SERIÉUSES. In stunning interpretations combining both virtuosity and integrity, Lilit Grigoryan takes the listener on a journey through this art form, from Busoni's breathtaking re-imagining of the majestic Chaconne from J.S. Bach's D minor violin Partita, to Beethoven's 32 Variations, which range between extreme technical difficulty and expressive moments of quiet simplicity, to Mendelssohn's grand Variations sérieuses. Alongside these giants of the repertoire are some more rarely-heard gems: Bizet's sinuous and innovative chromatic variations, and youthful late-Romantic colour from Polish composer Szymanowski.

As a young boy he was trained by his mother to play piano but later decided to exchange the instrument for the violin. In 1928, convinced by Bronisław Huberman (a friend of the family), Szeryng went to Berlin to study under Karl Flesch. His debut concert took place in Warsaw in 1933 when he performed Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major with Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Bruno Walter. In the same year he played in Bucharest, Vienna, and Paris, achieving acclaim both from the audience and the critics. In the years 1933-1939 the artist continued to learn violin under Jacques Thibaud and Gabriel Bouillon and studied composition under Nadia Boulanger.

As a young boy he was trained by his mother to play piano but later decided to exchange the instrument for the violin. In 1928, convinced by Bronisław Huberman (a friend of the family), Szeryng went to Berlin to study under Karl Flesch. His debut concert took place in Warsaw in 1933 when he performed Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major with Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Bruno Walter. In the same year he played in Bucharest, Vienna, and Paris, achieving acclaim both from the audience and the critics. In the years 1933-1939 the artist continued to learn violin under Jacques Thibaud and Gabriel Bouillon and studied composition under Nadia Boulanger.

This sensational recital—featuring some of the greatest keyboard music to emerge from these islands—is the perfect vehicle for Mahan Esfahani’s abundant talents. His accompanying booklet notes are an added bonus, guaranteed to inform, illuminate and provoke by turns.

The Kapustin Project is taking inventory of all shades of modern piano playing while exploring intersections of composed and improvised music. Roman Rofalski’s broad musical horizon has led him from Classical Music to Jazz, Contemporary and Electronic Music and he is on a mission to find a common vector for all these influences.

With Country on My Mind, Carl Smith finds time to walk in the "California Sunshine" and celebrate womanizing ("Wonderful World of Women") before settling into the songs of honky tonkin' and heartache for which he is known. Smith wears Merle Haggard's "I Threw Away the Rose" like an old boot, and handles "Little Ole Wine Drinker" more capably than Robert Mitchum, for whom it was a hit. Marty Robbins' "Knee Deep in the Blues" and the Browns' "I'd Just Be Fool Enough" two songs written by Melvin Endsley are likewise right up Smith's alley, and he fills them with the kind of weariness and defeat that make you want to reach for a whiskey bottle. Country on My Mind produced no hits and was recorded very quickly, but is yet another fine album from a singer whose way with a honky tonk ballad is unsurpassed. This is music made for crying in your drink, so pull up a barstool and enjoy.

A widely respected tunesmith and maverick recording artist, Chris Gantry was the sort of outlaw presence in 1960s Nashville who later became associated with his better-known peers like Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash. A native of New York, Gantry was already an industry veteran by the time he reached Music City at the age of 21, having scored a short-lived recording deal with a friend in his early teens. Once in Nashville, he cut his teeth at bars like Skull's Rainbow Room, a Printers Alley burlesque where he met other up-and-comers like Kristofferson and Shel Silverstein.

By many measures, Jack Jones was the most popular crooner to emerge between the heyday of Elvis Presley and the rise of the Beatles. In the span of two years, he snagged two Grammys for Pop Male Performance "Lollipops and Roses" in 1962 and "Wives and Loves" in 1964 which was enough to lay a foundation for a career that lasted well into the 21st century. Although his charting hits dried up in the early '70s – prior to that, he was a fixture on the Adult Contemporary charts, racking up the number one hits "The Race Is On," "The Impossible Dream (The Quest,)" and "Lady" between 1965 and 1967 he continued to perform in Las Vegas and on the road, making the occasional foray into pop culture, like when he sang "The Love Boat Theme" in 1980.

Eddy Arnold moved hillbilly music to the city, creating a sleek sound that relied on his smooth voice and occasionally lush orchestrations. In the process, he became the most popular country performer of the 20th century, spending more weeks at the top of the charts than any other artist. Arnold not only had 28 number one singles, he had more charting singles than any other artist. More than any other country performer of the postwar era, he was responsible for bringing the music to the masses, to people who wouldn't normally listen to country music. Arnold was initially influenced by cowboy singers like Gene Autry, but as his career progressed, he shaped his phrasing in the style of Pete Cassell.

Jim Ed Brown came to fame as a member of the '50s vocal group the Browns, where he was the band's lead male vocalist. In 1965, when the group was still together, he embarked on a solo career that would eventually eclipse the success of the Browns. Brown began his solo career in 1965, two years before the Browns disbanded. Initially, he didn't have much success and just scraped the bottom of the country Top 40. Once the Browns disbanded, Brown began to have more substantial hits, beginning with the number 18 single "You Can Have Her," which was a cover of the Roy Hamilton hit. That was followed by the beer-drinking anthem "Pop a Top," which climbed to number three. Although his next single, "Bottle, Bottle," reached number 13, Brown didn't have any major hits for the rest of the '60s.

A widely respected tunesmith and maverick recording artist, Chris Gantry was the sort of outlaw presence in 1960s Nashville who later became associated with his better-known peers like Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash. A native of New York, Gantry was already an industry veteran by the time he reached Music City at the age of 21, having scored a short-lived recording deal with a friend in his early teens. Once in Nashville, he cut his teeth at bars like Skull's Rainbow Room, a Printers Alley burlesque where he met other up-and-comers like Kristofferson and Shel Silverstein.

Charlie McCoy was perhaps the definitive Nashville session musician, a multi-talented performer best known for his harmonica playing and whose mastery of the instrument virtually defined its role within the context of modern country music. Though born in West Virginia on March 28, 1941, Charles Ray McCoy was raised in Miami, Florida, where he first picked up the harmonica at the age of eight.

"Quietly Cold" the title of this album may be somewhat misleading, as the music is neither as quiet nor as cold as it suggests. Intense songs, a girlish-fresh, innocent-sounding voice, the concise flute -playing of the bandleader and a compelling, swinging groove: these are the outstanding features of this evocative, drum-less quartet.

You'd never know it to look at film of him today, but during the summer of 1956, Tommy Steele became England's first home-grown rock & roller. Or he wasn't a rock & roller at all. Some 43 years after he first charted a record, many pop music scholars still question whether Tommy Steele belongs on a list of rock & roll performers. But whatever he was, in 1956, England had never seen anything quite like him. He was born Tommy Hicks on December 17, 1936, in Bermondsey, South London, to a working-class family.

2018 collection from the French electronic music pioneer. Planet Jarre is a compilation studio album celebrating 50 years in the music business. A total of 41 tracks have been hand-picked, remastered and retouched by Jarre himself. Jean-Michel Jarre is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres. His first mainstream success was the 1976 album Oxygène. More albums were to follow, but his 1979 concert served as a blueprint for his future performances around the world. Several of his albums have been released to coincide with large-scale outdoor events, and he is now perhaps as well-known as a performer as he is as a musician.