Beethoven Renovated is an album by the Quintessence ensemble, released in 2002. This album features a unique and innovative approach to Beethoven's works, blending classical music with contemporary and experimental styles. The quintet's interpretation of Beethoven’s compositions presents them in a modern light, incorporating elements of jazz, ambient, and improvised music while maintaining the essence of the original works.

André Previn Known as a successful classical conductor, jazz pianist, and composer of jazz, classical, and film music, André Previn frequently bridged the gap between popular and so-called "serious" music, and in doing so broadened the horizons of both. A German-American who fled Nazi Germany with his family in his youth, he went on to win four Academy Awards, all for his work on film musicals in late '50s and '60s, including his adaptation of My Fair Lady (1964). By the '70s, he had established himself as one of the world's leading classical conductors, with terms at the London Symphony Orchestra (1968-1979), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1976-1984), and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1985-1992). He also served as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1985 to 1989. During his tenure at the LSO, the BBC series André Previn's Music Hour made him household name.

Samson François He travelled across the world of music like a meteor, a shooting star. Excessive in all things, he burned his candle at both ends. The cigarette forever on his lips was a symbol of the fire that burned within this man who had a passion for jazz and the shadowy world of the night. Born in 1924 in Frankfurt, to a French father and a glamorous Alsatian mother, he spent his childhood and adolescence being taken from town to town, this artistic soul was profoundly sensitive, a romantic with a fanciful streak, often unpredictable. An admirer of Arthur Rimbaud and André Breton, he shared a little of their fire. Samson François was a real performer: one for whom the phrase "inspiration" was more than a cliché. Whether in poetic mood or in a frenzy, he never left his listeners indifferent. He could even throw them off balance at concerts where nothing special happened: that is what a real creator can do, and François was one. Hemmed in within the limits of his keyboard, he had the imaginative range to be a composer, and he wrote the music for a film a Piano Concerto (which he also recorded), pieces for the piano and… lots of aborted projects. His favourite repertoire? Ravel, Debussy, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt and Prokofiev, a choice which allowed him to express the extremes of his unstable and fascinating spirit.

Ceruleo celebrate the music of Barbara Strozzi, one of the greatest composers of the seventeenth century, and the most published composer of secular song of her time. Her distinctive style is characterised by virtuosic vocal lines, sophisticated interplay between voices and accompaniment, and a dramatic approach to text setting that went above and beyond that of her influences Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli. This is music of passion and desire; for love – both in general and in the specific form of another person – but also a longing for an answer to life’s questions or for relief from life’s burdens. With two sopranos, viola da gamba, harpsichord and lute, Ceruleo bring to life the music of this extraordinary composer, combining a selection of her finest works with instrumental pieces by her contemporaries.

American soprano Renee Fleming's first-ever holiday album celebrates the beloved and iconic Christmas season in New York City. From the holiday windows lining 5th Avenue to the red and green-lit spire of the Empire State Building, the essence of the city at the most wonderful time of year is captured on Christmas in New York. Pop, Broadway and jazz greats Chris Botti, Kurt Elling, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Kelli O Hara, Gregory Porter and Rufus Wainwright join Renée as she lends her sublime voice to hits like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Silver Bells" and other gems, including "Central Park Serenade" a brand new duet by songwriting legend Diane Warren. In total, Renee Fleming and her guests have won 16 Grammy awards across multiple categories.

Amore is the eleventh studio album by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, released on 31 January 2006, for the Valentine's Day season. This album features a remake of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love"; "Because We Believe", the closing song of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, which Bocelli wrote and performed; "Somos Novios (It's Impossible), a duet with American pop singer Christina Aguilera; and his first recording of Bésame Mucho, which eventually became one of his signature songs. Amore debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, which at the time was Bocelli's highest chart position in America yet. It went on to sell 1.66 million copies in the United States and was certified Platinum. Bocelli was the seventh best-selling artist of 2006, in the United States, and was also certified Gold and Platinum in several other counties.

The art of choral composition had become an estab-lished tradition in Switzerland by the 19th Century at the latest. It is no wonder, therefore, that the genre accompanied Frank Martin throughout his creative life, from the motetPourquoi voient-ils le jour?written in 1909 when he was just 19 years old, until his final cantata,Et la vie l'emporta, composed in 1974, a few months before his death. It inspired some of his most notable masterpieces (the Mass for Double Choir,Le vin herbe,In Terra Pax,Golgotha, among others), but he also produced a wealth of exquisite small-scale choral works.

In A Brother Abroad, Martin Bussey's rich compositional voice vividly brings to life the fascinating figure of Peter of Bologna, a fourteenth-century Franciscan bishop. This compelling new recording showcases baritone Marcus Farnsworth, soprano Alison Rose, and an ensemble led by pianist Libby Burgess, alongside Emma Halnan (flute), George Strivens (french horn), and Stephen Burke (percussion). The text, written by Anthony Pinching, draws on historical sources, and Bussey's music deftly balances moments of spirituality, political intrigue, and celebration. This album also features songs cycles A Chainless Soul and Children of Adam with texts by Emily Bronte and Walt Whitman respectively, and highlights Bussey's flair for dramatic storytelling and his deep connection to English song, cementing his reputation as a distinctive contemporary voice.

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra Despite many name changes, the Czech (or Prague) Radio Symphony Orchestra is one of the country's most significant cultural institutions.

Jordi Savall Born on the 1st August 1941 in Igualada (Barcelona province, Spain), Jordi Savall i Bernadet is a cellist, violist, choir director, orchestra leader, and composer. His repertoire spans music dating from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, and from the Baroque period until the nineteenth century. Savall was married to the Spanish soprano Montserrat Figueras from 1968 until her death in November 2011, and is the father of Arianna and Ferran Savall; both singers and musicians.

Mari Samuelsen presents Life, With Hits from Hania Rani to Max Richter and Nils Frahm. This album is a sonic exploration of the raw, unfiltered emotions that bind us. Inspired by Mari’s feelings and emotions of motherhood, it delves into the universal language of connection, revealing its power to transform and transcend circumstance.

…The King's Consort under the direction of Robert King perform the Overture-Suites from the Second and Third Productions of Telemann's anthology…I find the new issue delightful, both musically and from a performance standpoint. The players capture the spirit of the Overture-Suite in D major (Second Production) with pleasing tempos, crisp articulation, taut rhythms and fine ensemble. The trumpet has an important role in this Suite and here it is played with finesse by Crispian Steele-Perkins—resonant, authoritative but never overbearing. Oboes are kept busy, too, as indeed is the leader, Roy Goodman who gives a lively account of the several concertante passages for violin. His presence has contributed much to the ultimate success of this project.

Italian Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella (1639-1682) is known for his dramatic life, whose watchwords were sex and violence; he was stabbed to death, right under the nose of his bodyguard, by assassins sent out by the husband of a nobleman whose wife he had seduced. His music is just beginning to enter general circulation, and it's as exciting as one might imagine, with plenty of vocal acrobatics to challenge even the best singers. The "serenade" featured on this Italian release, Vola, vola in altri petti (Fly, fly to other hearts), is a work for four singers, about 40 minutes long; it contains recitatives and arias, along with an opening instrumental sinfonia and a dance interlude.

The first album of the trilogy devoted to Ramon Llull includes a selection of pieces that represents some of the most important genres of the time of Ramon Llull, as well as some of the most representative authors. It offers a musical journey that accompanies the first development stages of Lull’s life, since the moment that begins his radical change to the intellectual illumination, which is attributed to a divine origin-, and that will lead him to Ars. “Conversion, study and contemplation“ illustrates Ramon Llull ‘s youth devoted to sensual pleasures, love and the cultivation of troubadour lyric poetry, from the perspective of a person who left world vanities.

Certainly, the 'quietest time of year' is also the time when music is to be most frequently heard - not only in public, in shops or markets, but also in the countryside, where Christmas is the time when perhaps the most singing is done. The music author Marius Schneider once underlined this fact by writing:"God hungers for songs." And thus the time which celebrates the symbolic birth of the Lord is a great time for music - even for people who may have no direct religious beliefs. With this 5CD-Set Capriccio presents in total 100 Classical Christmas titles, sung by most famous choruses and soloists. And draws a bow from the high classical Christmas Oratorio by Bach to more simple songs from the country side. And of course the most famous song can't be missed: Silent Night, Holy Night.