A Verdi Requiem with a dream line-up of soloists and the forces of La Scala, Milan, directed by one of the greatest maestros of our time. Preceding acclaimed performances at the Lucerne and Salzburg Festivals, Barenboim and his magnificent partners recorded this masterpiece around a live performance at La Scala, Milan, in 2012. This marks the first audio recording by Barenboim in his role as La Scala’s Music Director.

Claudio Arrau, one of the greatest piano masters of the s. XX, leaves us astonished with this intense and majestic version, showing his immense knowledge of German Romanticism of which he was an excellent exponent. Excellent temps and wonderful nuances. Here Bernard Haitink shows us why he became a benchmark in conducting by one of the best ensembles on the planet: the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Inspired by the artwork of Roger Dean and the writings of Ver Stanley Alder, Jon Anderson developed an entire story around the idea of an interstellar exodus from Sunhillow, writing this album around the narrative (named for the spaceship's architect, Olias). The idea may seem overly ambitious, but Anderson fills the record with enough magical moments to delight fans of Yes' mystic side…

After their acclaimed recording of Weber’s Freischütz, the Dresdner Philharmonie and its Principal conductor Marek Janowski present yet another German opera stereo classic with Beethoven’s Fidelio. They work together with a stellar cast — well-seasoned in German opera — including Lise Davidsen (Fidelio/Leonore), Christian Elsner (Florestan), Georg Zeppenfeld (Rocco), Christina Landshamer (Marzelline), Cornel Frey (Jaquino), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Don Pizzarro) and Günther Groissböck (Don Fernando).

Poised at the convergence of 18th-century French and Italian schools, Leclair and Senaillé were the French Paganinis of their day. Technically challenging yet full of poetry, rhythmically varied and always dance-like, their sonatas find two fervent advocates in Théotime Langlois de Swarte and William Christie. Transcending generational differences, the “venerated elder statesman of early music” (Opera News) and the youthful violin prodigy join forces to help us rediscover these still unjustly neglected pages.

The "Tango Sentimentale" ensemble - Maximilian Spenger, Susanne Gargerle (First Violin), Isolde Lehrmann (Second Violin), David Ott, Silvia Cempiny (Violoncello), Thomas Jauch, Manuel Lopez, Hermann Weindorf (Piano & Percussion) - succeeds in fusing classical and modern music in one project. Tango… play between passion and melancholy dance of seduction, devotion and distance lure of fascination and eroticism Moments in the style of traditional tangos by Astor Piazzolla and Sebastian Piana meet modern compositions of the present. In such encounters of a very special kind, familiar elements of a bygone era combine with the forever enduring wishes, dreams and desires in the here and now. Played with abandon with accordion and string quintet, "Tango Sentimentale" takes us into a world of sound full of emotions and fantasy.

“Schubert’s music is always associated in my imagination with a journey in a horse-drawn carriage. Outside, the scenery is flowing by. Cities, mountains, rivers, lakes, villages. At times the carriage slows down, then it speeds up again, but I always have that feeling of being on a journey. Not on foot and not on horse, but in a carriage on wheels.” (Elena Bashkirova)

Emil Vicklický is the acknowledged "Patriarch of Czech Jazz Piano." Known for combining the melodism and tonalities of Moravian folk music with modern jazz harmonies and classical orchestration in a distinctly individual style, Vicklický grew up in the former Czechoslovakia, where his father was a university art professor. He graduated in 1971 from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. He composes straight-ahead jazz as well as chamber and orchestral works, often utilizing a combination of classical and jazz performers.
Leos Janácek (1854-1928) is considered to rank with Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana as one of the most important Czech composers. Janácek was inspired by Moravian and Slavic folk music, which he incorporated in a modern, highly original synthesis…

Kiwi rock decadents Dragon's third album appeared in 1977 produced by Peter Dawkins, who tamed the verbose progressive rock sound of earlier efforts into an equally lurid pub rock sound. While their new approach took them chartwards and created one of the more extreme biographical histories in rock, the albums remain timepieces of a dark and decadent era for New Zealand rock probably best kept under the carpet…

Anyone's Daughter made its name on the European scene in the late '70s and '80s with a series of intelligent prog rock albums that drew comparisons to Pink Floyd and Triumvirat. After an extended hiatus, the band returned in 2000 and has made three new albums since, the second of which is this musically impressive (if lyrically awkward) effort. The band seamlessly incorporates elements of electronic percussion into tracks like "The Wrong" and "Your Time," while "Helios Reloaded" opens with some good old-fashioned Bach & roll neo-classicism and "Fade Out" brings in a subtle Latin influence. But throughout the album, center stage is occupied by big-voiced singer André Carswell, who is unfortunately saddled with cringe-inducing lyrics along the lines of "Looking up instead of always down turns a frown into a smile" and "There's a star in the sky/That will never say die." In strictly musical terms, this album is not bad at all…

This quintet (derived mostly from Tamworth band Willow) led by ex-Alexis Korner Blues Incorporated singer, Mick Rutherford, was formed in March 1978 and issued their debut concept album a year later, before splitting in 1982. Featuring the Staffordshire Youth Orchestra, with string arrangements by Rutherford, its riven with changes of both mood and tempo, as well as boasting some blaring horns and sweet electric and acoustic guitar from Andy Radek, as highlighted on airy tunes like The Bridge. This LP has been described as the rarest album of 1979.

While Italians and Frenchmen were competing for musical primacy everywhere on the European Continent, a very characteristically British tonal idiom reigned supreme during this short period of history before foreign influences increased in importance. Musica Alta Ripa’s espousal of an epoch that so far has not received much attention turns out to be a genuine instance of good fortune. With their special feel for the peculiar resonances of English music, these Hanoverian baroque specialists present a royal audio feast and with it genuine enrichment not only for early music enthusiasts.