There are no highlights in this cycle - the level of consistency is remarkable - but Dohnanyi's Third has always been regarded as one of the three or four reference recordings of the symphony. And rightfully so. Rarely are conductors been able to elicit such an unclogged sound from an orchestra on modern instruments while maintaining such a high level of focused energy. The brass work in the first movement is stunning while the wind parts all register with appropriate clarity. The appearance of the coda is violent and awesomely effective.

It's hard to imagine better performances of these works, either technically or emotionally. Brendel takes a relatively straight line through the works that reveals their varied emotional glory. This is beauty through structure, realized though a heartfelt and thoroughly considered, yet spontaneous-sounding performance. This wonderous music is simple in form, but beautiful and emotional when played spectacularly well as here by Brendel.

Although Kurt Weill's principal legacy lies in music theatre works of both popular appeal and intellectual weight, he was equally at home in purely orchestral works as evidenced by his two symphonies. Written just over a decade apart, they reveal his chameleon-like ability to work with any range of style and form. The Symphonie in einem Satz (Symphony in one movement), completed when he was barely 21, adopts an expressionist idiom that shows intricate writing, dense counterpoint and quick shifts reminiscent of Schoenberg's First Chamber Symphony. Completed in France in 1934 after Weill had to flee Nazi Germany, the Fantaisie symphonique is filled with allusions to the 'sung ballet' The Seven Deadly Sins, composed at the same time.

3 CD Set, 69 remastered and and restored tracks from 1964-1968 together for the first time on one release. Featuring Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck And Jimmy Page.

This new release features extended and alternate versions of three pieces from the recent Sanctuary of Desire album by Steve Roach. Currents of Desire, Integration Being and Night Flower together flow forth in this set creating a powerful unified portal that further expands the vision of this sonic cathedral of the future built to hold and nourish the deep evolving spirit of the creative life. The feeling of transcendent yearning, aspiration and integration is fully alive and further enhanced within these three expanded and beautifully mastered versions.

Released in 1979, Kenny Rogers' The Gambler was a pop crossover success, topping Billboard's Country Albums chart at #1 and reaching #12 on the Billboard 200. The album's smash hit ballad, She Believes In Me, topped Billboard's Country and Adult Contemporary Singles charts and peaked at #5 on the Hot 100. The album's title track won two GRAMMY Awards: Best Country Vocal Performance, Male and Best Country Song. The album is five-times Platinum-certified by the RIAA with U.S. sales totaling more than five million copies.

Kreeta-Maria Kentala, who has recorded several great albums for Alba, is this time accompanied by pianist Joonas Ahonen. There have been a lot of recordings of these Beethoven sonatas, but in this recording something has been achieved that is not present in previous recordings. Joonas and Kreeta-Maria's playing is refreshingly fresh and in good spirits. The recording was made in the Schauman hall in Pietarsaari. Joonas Ahonen's instrument is a Conrad Graf from around 1827, a fortepiano and a baroque violin made by Kreeta-Maria Kentala at the beginning of the 20th century In the booklet, the texts contain a fascinating text written by Minna Lindgren about Beethoven and the birth of the sonatas on the disc. The novelty of Ahonen and Kentala clearly goes to the top of this art music recording spring and will probably still be there when you look at this year's entire domestic record crop.

Rameau's music has yet to be discovered, several of his operas are still unpublished," says Bruno Procopio. Our initiative is to bring these works to light thanks to the Jeune Orchestre Rameau (Jor). Its mission is also to become a professional integration orchestra, by organizing concerts and tours in addition to the week of the Academy, also to promote the creation of new works, professional training, to offer a platform international network and to make recordings via the Paraty record label, distributed by Pias Harmonia Mundi.

Jean Gilles (Tarascon, 1688), Chapel Master of Toulouse Cathedral from 1697, was a genius struck down at the age of just 37, in 1705. The entire kingdom admired his famed Mass for the Dead, which was played at his own funeral "he sealed his score with his last will and testament, in which he asked that the Chapter have this mass sung to lay his soul to rest", then performed throughout the century, both in concert and for the funerals of Campra (1744), Rameau (1764) and Louis XV (1774). Fabien Armengaud and his ensemble from the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles perform this masterpiece with the addition of a new motet, Domine Deus Meus, replete with dramatic effects including an awe-inspiring tempest. Gilles' composition, with its extraordinary expansiveness and mastery of counterpoint, epitomises the nobility that makes French Grand Siecle religious music so incomparable, glorified by this Requiem AEternam…

Tenor Daniel Behle and two of his favourite composers: Strauss & Wagner. Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss are the two great musical fixed stars in the musical world of tenor Daniel Behle. At the 2021 Bayreuth Festival he was heard as David in the "Meistersinger", in Dortmund and soon in Amsterdam he will be heard in the title role of "Lohengrin".

Canadian Rick Miller is back with his fourteenth album, two years after 'Delusional'. This is very much a continuation of the change in style he has been working on recently where there is much more of a rock element within his music, and his band is the same as the last album apart from this time around only Barry Haggarty provides guitar, as Kane Miller is no longer involved. Given Kane has been a mainstay since Rick's fourth album, 2004's 'Dreamtigers', that is quite a shift. But Haggarty's relationship with Rick goes back even further, while flautist Sarah Young has also been involved for more than 15 years. Both drummer Will and cellist Mateusz Swoboda also have a long history with Rick, who describes this album as being "in the genre of what I would call Progressive Rock. That term defining the type of music that was made famous throughout the 70's by bands such as Genesis, The Moody Blues and Pink Floyd"…

This audiophile-approved anthology, mastered and compiled by Steve Hoffman, is the only one to combine Chris Montez' Monogram and A&M recordings on one disc. The most comprehensive Montez anthology yet produced, All-Time Greatest Hits includes every one of his Top 100 hits and more. The program begins with Montez' early recordings as a Ritchie Valens protége purveying teen dance songs like "My Baby Loves to Dance" and "Let's Dance" (his biggest hit), as well as his Herb Alpert-produced adult contemporary hits of the mid-'60s. The latter include "Call Me" and "The More I See You," breezy confections with a laid-back party atmosphere and Montez' appealing boy-next-door vocals. Apart from the hits, "You're the One" is a duet with Kathy Young of "A Thousand Stars" fame, and the disc leads off with a personal message from Montez recorded in 1991…