Bruno Walter recorded the Eighth in southern California in 1962, at the end of a glorious career in the opera pit, on the podium, and in the studio. A finer valedictory could scarcely have been possible. This sunny, ebullient account is full of real grazioso phrasing and has a wonderful lightness of touch, yet shows plenty of muscle from a man who was 85 at the time he conducted it. The playing of the Columbia Symphony is inspired, and the recording, now more than 50 years old, remains exemplary for its balance and extraordinarily good sonics.

Emil Richards and Joe Porcaro have been making music together for over 60 years! When Emil came to the studio to hear the quartet project, Calamari, he simply had to have his and Joe's big band recorded in the same way. This is it…the very best players in L.A. playing all out in one afternoon.

SVEIN HUNDSNES is one of Norway’s most important living composers. He has written a wide-ranging body of music encompassing several vivid styles, moving seamlessly from tonal and non-tonal music to include jazz, rock and even funk. Hundsnes’ sequence of Clavinatas – one-movement free-standing pieces with a symmetrical form that often include toccata-like vitality – embody qualities that make his music so distinctive. Often syncopated, they possess short motifs, intensity and emotional ambiguity. Piano Sonata No. 1 and Downtoned Beats reflect his delight in drama and dance grooves.

Two belgian talents - Svenja Van Driessche on violin, and Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort on piano, join forces to record three of their favourite pieces.
It includes two pieces that are rarely recorded and lesser known to the public. The first one is the violin sonata by Francis Poulenc. The second one is Poème by Ernest Chausson. Most of the time this piece is performed with an orchestra. This version, on violin and piano, is far more intimate, a "hidden gem".

Continuing a much-acclaimed series of recordings: in the wake of Sardanapalo, Kirill Karabits and the Staatskapelle Weimar are devoting themselves for the first time to major works by Weimar's Kapellmeister-composer, Franz Liszt, with his Dante and Tasso. His Künstlerfestzug is a world-premiere recording.

Belated Christmas presents for fans of the late, great Brit-jazz tenorist Tubby Hayes as Universal have announced the arrival of selected remastered albums.

Although the standard classical string octet repertoire includes giants such as Mendelssohn and Shostakovich – both of whom were advocates of the rich sound of this combination of instruments – forgotten compositions for string octet are still waiting to be rediscovered in the music archives. One such work is the rarely performed and, until now, previously unrecorded double quartet Novoselye (House-warming) by the Russian violinist and composer Nikolay Afanasyev (1821-1898). While hardly anyone knows his name today, that in no way detracts from the quality of his music.

After their prize-winning Mendelssohn symphonies cycle and acclaimed Mozart symphonies album, the NDR Radiophilharmonie and its chief conductor Andrew Manze now present Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh symphonies. While Beethoven’s Fifth is arguably the most famous symphony in the history of music, the Seventh counts as one of the most rhythmically-advanced pieces of nineteenth-century music; an “apotheosis of dance”, to quote Richard Wagner. Both works display Beethoven’s mastery of and audacious approach to musical form as well as the richness of his melodic invention, and are generally praised as paragons of symphonic composition. Andrew Manze brings his experience in the field of historically informed performance to the polished symphonic sound of the NDR Radiophilharmonie, providing an ambience that fits these early nineteenth-century works like a glove.

The original pioneers of the renaissance of the Django music! Established in the 70-ies, their starting point was the recordings of Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France, mingled with gypsy folklore, waltzes and more modern jazz.

Essential: a masterpiece of rock music
WHAM BAM THANK YOU MAM
Deeply inspired by the rise and fall of Vince Taylor (whom Bowie incidentally met in 1971). David/Ziggy will mix this story with science-fiction themes, the atmosphere of the star rock system mixing the whole stuff with his androgynous look. Ziggy will appear as such on stage. Intelligent glam rock? Probably.

Excellent addition to any rock music collection
What a story! We have the latest David Bowie's work, and I ask you: What about the first? Is pointing to pure psychedelia, and he with his unmistakable voice and only 20 years old!

Excellent addition to any rock music collection.
This was the first album released by the band after the departure of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. Many wondered at the time if the remaining half, Gouldman/Stewart, could pull off a decent album or would it be a let down.

Excellent addition to any Progressive-Rock music collection.
A hugely successful album on its release, “How Dare You” spawned two monster hits “I’m Mandy Fly Me” and “Art for Art’s Sake”.

Al Stewart had found his voice on Past, Present & Future and found his sound on Modern Times. He then perfected it all on 1976’s Year of the Cat, arguably his masterpiece.

Back to the front in so many ways, Apocalyptica are proud to announce the release of their 9th studio album Cell-0. Bristling with an epically baroque life and energy, January 10th 2020 is not just the sound of Apocalyptica returning to their expansive instrumental roots, it is the sound of Apocalyptica revisiting their deepest love with a renewed sense of knowledge and passion. The journeys are deeper, the destinations further and the rewards so much richer than anything the exciting, ambitious quartet have ever produced.