Following the phenomenal success of Cavalleria Rusticana (1889) operas flowed rapidly from Mascagni’s pen for about a decade: L’Amico Fritz (1891), I Rantzau (1892), Guglielmo Ratcliff (1895), Silvano (1895), Zanetto (1896), and Iris (1898). With the arrival of the 20th Century the pace began to slow down: Le Maschere (1901), Amica (1905), Isabeau (1911), Parisina (1913), Lodoletta (1917), Il Piccolo Marat (1921), Pinotta (1932) and finally Nerone (1935), largely a reworking of a much earlier piece. Mascagni himself was convinced that the public’s obstinacy in preferring Cavalleria Rusticana was an injustice. Criticism of the earlier works has tended to centre on clumsy libretti and patches of weaker inspiration, while real controversy has surrounded the later pieces. Here, we are told, Mascagni tried to dress up as a modern, flirting with dissonance and ungainly vocal declamation, at the expense of his natural melodic gifts.

Simon Zaoui, Pierre Fouchenneret and Raphael Merlin here resume, and complete, their exploration of the chamber works of Gabriel Fauré:, begun in 2018 with the first volume of Horizons. Far from the prevailing trends of the early 20th century, Fauré's music for piano and strings testifies to the singularity of his language, constantly moving between past and future. Joined by violist Marie Chilemme for the two piano quartets, and by members of the Strada Quartet for the string quartet and quintets, the three friends present a carefully considered version of these masterpieces, recorded here for the first time using the material of the new Barenreiter edition.

Countess Mária Theodora (Dora) Paulina Pejačević was born in September 1885 in Budapest. Young Dora grew up with all the advantages of an aristocrat: a fairy-tale life of opulent palaces set in idyllic landscapes; privilege, comfort, leisure, and wealth. From an early age she defied convention and walked her own path, one that eventually led her to ‘despise’ the aristocracy. Her father, Count Teodor Pejačević, a lawyer, held several high posts, including that of Civil Governor of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia (1903 – 07). Her mother, Lilla Vay de Vaya, an ‘exceptionally beautiful’ Hungarian countess, was a gifted pianist and singer, and a fine amateur artist. Her parents arranged private lessons with teachers at the Music School of the Croatian Music Institute, at Zagreb, which lead to further instruction in Dresden and Munich. Dissatisfied with the ‘limits’ of her formal studies, Pejačević pursued her own intensive course of self-instruction in composition. Having taken her music education into her own hands, she set off to enrich and broaden her intellectual horizons, travelling to cultural centres in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.

Hailed by the magazine BBC Music for its ‘generous and warm-hearted, utterly beguiling playing’, the Neave Trio has emerged as one of the finest young ensembles of its generation. It has been praised by WQXR Radio in New York City for its ‘bright and radiant music making’, described by The Strad as having ‘elegant phrasing and deft control of textures’, and praised by The New York Times for its ‘excellent performances’. Here, the trio presents a programme of music connected by the theme of Remembrance. Rachmaninoff’s early first piano trio was inspired by Tchaikovsky’s trio in A minor, and shows illuminating glimpses of the mature composer to come. The elegiac mood of Rachmaninoff’s work is matched by that of Brahms’s first trio – again an early composition – which was inspired by the composer’s (unrequited) feelings for Clara Schumann.

Renowned in his day as a virtuoso keyboard player, Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710) was the most important Italian composer of keyboard music between Frescobaldi and Domenico Scarlatti. In that capacity his output has output has been surveyed by Brilliant Classics with authoritative collections of his sonatas for harpsichord (94286) and for two organs (94347). However, Pasquini also composed more than 70 cantatas – most of them for one and two voices with continuo accompaniment, of the concise and dramatic kind written by the young Handel after he arrived in Rome in 1706.

Screen superstar Hugh Jackman (X-Men, Les Misérables) and acclaimed actress Maureen Lipman (The Pianist) head a spirited cast in this visually stunning adaptation of the beloved Broadway favorite from Rodgers & Hammerstein! Some of the greatest songs ever written! Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin', The Surry with the Fringe on Top, People Will Say We're in Love, Oklahoma and more!

Totally Driven is a greatest hits album by British hard rock band Uriah Heep, released on 12 November 2015 on their own label, Uriah Heep Records. The album contains re-recorded versions of 27 of their best known songs, recorded with the long-standing 1986-2007 lineup. The album was originally released in 2001 with a different track order as Remasters: The Official Anthology, but it went out of print quite quickly and was forgotten about. It was reissued in 2004 as Uriah Heep's Gold: Looking Back 1970-2001 without the band's knowledge by a European budget label. According to guitarist Mick Box, the songs were recorded in preparation for the Acoustically Driven and Electrically Driven concerts. Totally Driven is housed in a six panel digipak with new custom artwork. This album features the band's longest running line-up of Mick Box, Lee Kerslake, Phil Lanzon, Bernie Shaw and the late Trevor Bolder. Totally Driven is the first on the band's own label Uriah Heep Records.

While much of the music has a spartan beauty (highlighted by these pristine, straight-toned performances) there are, too, some strikingly complex and florid works…Throughout, the readings are subtly nuanced to express the wide variety of texts.

Stars, drive, and heart: Brecker, Landgren, Evans and more – the “Dream Band” of drummer Wolfgang Haffner on a live double album.

On their new album “Closer to Paradise” Spark, the Classical Band, form a unique partnership with the internationally acclaimed countertenor Valer Sabadus to produce, in musical form, a feeling of longing, that wonderful, painful yet bitter-sweet emotional state ’twixt melancholy and happiness. The spectrum of works ranges from the classical masters such as Antonio Vivaldi, Robert Schumann, Gabriel Fauré, Erik Satie and Kurt Weill through to French chansonnier Leo Ferré, Italian cantautore Lucio Dalla, American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, British synth-rock-group Depeche Mode and the German cult band Rammstein. Rounded off with some compositions by the Spark musicians themselves, the pieces blend into an aural study of emotions, the fruit of an exciting musical collaboration and a consistently thrilling recording project.

Following on from her debut album impressions, featuring chamber music for bassoon and piano, bassoon player Sophie Dervaux is poised to release her second album on the Berlin Classics label. This album marks two premieres: in addition to this being the very first recording of the Concerto no. 2 in C major for bassoon and orchestra by Johann Baptist Vanhal, Ms Dervaux performs as both soloist and conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg.

Penguin Cafe are back with a lovingly produced 10th anniversary reissue of their debut album, titled A Matter of Life… 2021. Besides being completely remastered and pressed on vinyl for the very first time, the record also features a brand new 2021 recording of lead single Harry Piers, a song commemorating Arthur Jeffes’ late father and Penguin Cafe Orchestra founder Simon Jeffes.