Four internationally celebrated Verdians gather on the stage of The Royal Opera for an unforgettable night of music and drama. Tenor José Cura is thrilling as the freedom-fighting troubadour of the title; seductive baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky is his nemesis Count di Lina; acclaimed soprano Verónica Vilarroel is the object of their love; and Yvonne Naef dazzles as the vengeful gypsy Azucena. Carlo Rizzi conducts, and Elijah Moshinsky’s lavish production, which updates the action to the mid-19th century, fills the stage with breathtaking fight sequences and grand sets.

NEGURĂ BUNGET present their breath-taking swansong "Zău" to the world. This captivating, deep, and multi-layered final part of the Romanian's "Transylvanian trilogy" was hanging by a thread. When the creative mastermind and driving force behind NEGURĂ BUNGET, drummer Gabriel "Negru" Mafa suffered a terminal heart-attack on March 21, 2017 his tragic passing seemed to dictate that his grand vision of a metal-anchored musical interpretation of Romania's beautiful landscapes, traditions, and myths as well as his homeland's spiritually was doomed to remain as unfinished as Beethoven's 10th symphony. Yet the veteran musicians that had been with Negru in the final incarnation of NEGURĂ BUNGET's ever-changing line-up were not prepared to give up let his vision slip into unheard obscurity. By sheer luck, Negru's drum tracks for "Zău" had already been laid down and recorded before the band's final tour. All the sketches, demos, and rehearsal room recordings that they had been working on were painstakingly gathered, and each band member respectfully filled in the gaps in the same way as they would have done with the remaining co-founder of NEGURĂ BUNGET still alive; in utter dedication to the original idea. The result of this labour of love is "Zău", the stunning culmination and climax of NEGURĂ BUNGET's musical evolution and the "Transyl

The programme of the album "Bajgelman. Get to Tango" intersperses pieces from the interwar period with music from the Łódź Ghetto. The story of Dawid Bajgelman’s life and work is told in the characteristic style and sound of Bester Quartet, made up of the leader’s (Jarek Bester’s) accordion, Dawid Lubowicz’s violin, Maciej Adamczak’s bass, and Ryszard Pałka’s percussion, and complemented by contributions from such eminent guest musicians as Krzysztof Lenczowski (cello), Michał Bylica (trumpet), and, perhaps most importantly, of leading Polishjazz singers: Grażyna Auguścik, Dorota Miśkiewicz, and Jorgos Skolias.

For her third disc, the young Korean violinist Sueye Park has explored the repertoire for solo violin, and chosen works spanning exactly 100 hundred years – from Max Reger’s Prelude and Fugue from 1909 to Penderecki’s Capriccio, composed in 2008. Framing the 20th century, the programme starts as a relay race of famous violinist-composers; Reger dedicating his piece to Kreisler, who dedicated his Recitativo and Scherzo-Caprice to Ysaÿe, who wrote his Sonata No. 6 for the Spanish virtuoso Manuel Quiroga. In this series of names, that of Richard Strauss may come as a surprise, but his little-known Daphne-Etüde from 1945 is also dedicated to a violinist – his young grandson.

This set of trio sonatas dates from 1727, the year before Sammartini moved to London where he became one of the leading composers in England until his death. Rooted in the late Baroque, these works show the composer's skilled contrapuntism and gift for lyricism and melody.

Rebecca Rust, cello, and Friedrich Edelmann, bassoon, have played together in duos, trios and larger chamber music groups for over 30 years. From their home base in Germany, this huband-and-wife team performs in America, Europe and Japan including radio and TV productions. Praised by Carlo Maria Giulini for her exceptional musicality, the American cellist Rebecca Rust, a native of California, received her first piano lessons with her mother at the age of five and began cello lessons with Margaret Rowell. Rowell said: Rebecca Rust is one of the most talented cellists that I have had the pleasure of teaching. Blessed with a beautiful ear and facility, she has used these gifts as tools to dig deep into the music itself, thereby giving her listeners a profound musical experience. Rebecca Rust is a brilliant cellist. Friedrich Edelmann grew up in Kaiserslautern, Germany. He studied with Alfred Rinderspacher, Klaus Thunemann, and Milan Turkovic. In 1977 he became the Principal Bassoonist of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. They are joined on this recording by pianist Scott Faigen.

With the exception of Peter Banks and Trevor Horn, virtually all the major contributors to Yes in its various incarnations over the previous 23 years, including both of its drummers, threw their hands into the making of Union, which was supported by a massive tour that filled arenas with at least two generations of fans. So even if Union had been as good as one hoped, this was an album that couldn't possibly have met the expectations inherent in the array of talent involved…

The most distinctive thing about Double Fantasy, the last album John Lennon released during his lifetime, is the very thing that keeps it from being a graceful return to form from the singer/songwriter, returning to active duty after five years of self-imposed exile…

Commencing a series on Onyx dedicated to the orchestral music of Béla Bartók, Thomas Dausgaard and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra deliver dynamic performances of one of the composer's greatest works, the Concerto for Orchestra, SZ 116, accompanied by the less famous but deserving Suite No. 1, SZ 31, presented here without cuts. Because the Concerto for Orchestra is widely performed and recorded, listeners are likely to know it well, so Dausgaard's decision to open with the Suite No. 1 gives it a prominence that it rarely receives. Both works have parallels that are important to note, primarily the five-movement form and the quasi-symphonic internal structures that Bartók might have employed had he written an official symphony.

This album's concept is totally what CTI label boss Creed Taylor was after. The album's title track is from Marvin Gaye's album released around the same time as this "Trouble Man". Both albums are large scale productions with lots of musicians and an Orchestra conducted and arranged on this album by Bob James who also plays keys on the album.
The core band of players consists of Ron Carter on acoustic bass, Eric Gale on guitar,Billy Cobham on drums and Richard Tee on organ and keyboards. Pianist Harold Mabern also guests on electric piano.
Idris Muhammad also plays drums on a track. The orchestra contains many big jazz names such as Randy Brecker on trumpet, Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Joe Farrell on tenor sax and Jerry Dodigon on alto sax. A who's who of Jazz horn talent all backing Turrentine.

In addition to some 47 keyboard sonatas, Haydn wrote a variety of other pieces including arrangements of earlier orchestral or chamber works, and dances intended for occasional use. The 10 kleine Klavierstucke (10 Little Piano Pieces) contain five symphonic movements- including the second movement from one of his most popular, No. 53 in D major, known as L’Imperiale- a single movement from a string quartet and three extracts from his witty Eszterhaza opera La vera constanza. The dance movements were popular in Vienna’s many ballrooms. This is the penultimate release in Jeno Jando’s project of recording the complete solo piano music by Joseph Haydn. Of the complete piano sonatas release, Audiophile Audition commented: “Jando is every inch the professional, his years of experience and his muscular playing full these [works] with vivacious life.”

This delightful and lighthearted album features virtuoso clarinetist David Shifrin performing Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto in a newly arranged accompaniment for chamber orchestra. The dramatic work unfolds unpredictably in short, contrasting episodes that allow the soloist to explore a range of moods and colours.

Marie-Martin Marcel de Marin (1796–1850) was a French composer who led both personal and professional lives that are worth reviewing today. He was a mathematician, an expat, the Captain of Versailles' Dragoons, a violinist and above all a composer. His harp compositions are very different from the repertoire of his contemporaries. His music features quite a peculiar mix of stylistic elements of various origins, including the heritage of the great Baroque composers and the early 18th-century style of French keyboard music. He succeeded in creating a language for the harp that was acclaimed as revolutionary during his lifetime and is still today worth rediscovering, revealing Marin to be a forerunner of a style that was found in harp music only at the beginning of the 20th century.