In 1903, Gustav Mahler conducted his own work with the Concertgebouw Orchestra for the first time. He was delighted with orchestra, choirs and audiences: "The musical culture of this country is amazing! How these people can listen!" The collaboration with the orchestra lasted until his death in 1911 and established the orchestra's Mahler tradition. Since then, all chief conductors of the RCO have maintained the special relationship with Mahler's music. On May 9, 2025, the RCO opens the Concertgebouw Mahler Festival with Mahler's 1st Symphony under the direction of designated chief conductor Klaus Mäkelä. For this occasion, the Box Mahler - The Chief Conductor Edition appears with all Mahler symphonies of his predecessors Eduard van Beinum, Willem Mengelberg, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Mariss Jansons and Daniele Gatti, including The Song of the Earth and Deryck Cookes version of the 10th Symphony.

Gary Brooker wrote music and lyrics for all the songs on his second album and acted as his own producer, resulting in perhaps his most personal statement as an artist. Unlike No More Fear Of Flying, on which he sometimes just seemed to be the singer on his own record, here Brooker delivered his songs with feeling, enabling him to overcome the star power of his backup musicians, who included Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Phil Collins. This was partly because Brooker no longer felt the need to separate himself from The Procol Harum sound that was so much a part of his natural musical identity. Brooker's lyrics weren't as philosophical as longtime writing partner Keith Reid's, but they could be just as intriguingly oblique.

Nine Objects of Desire is Suzanne Vega's fifth studio album, released September 10, 1996. It peaked at number 92 in the Billboard 200.

Colors of Love is a Grammy Award winning 1999 album of contemporary choral music by Chanticleer to a concept designed by Frank Albinder. The album won Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. On COLORS OF LOVE the versatile 12-voice mail vocal ensemble Chanticleer - exclusive to Teldec - sings eight distinctive works by contemporary composers. Five of the compositions were written specifically for Chanticleer, notably John Tavener's "Village Wedding," a frequent encore and one of the group's favorite works. Prominent composers from both Eastern and Western traditions are represented, including Steven Stucky, Zhou Long, and the young America woman composer, Augusta Read Thomas.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Lost Themes, we are thrilled to present an expanded art edition of the album with art by Greg Ruth. This special release includes an additional 7-inch featuring two previously unreleased tracks from the original recording session - “Cruisin’ With Mr. Scratch” and “Dominator.” and is a one time limited pressing. Upon its initial release, Lost Themes was praised for its evocative soundscapes ranging from horror to science fiction, each track conjuring a distinct atmosphere without the need for accompanying visuals. The expanded edition of Lost Themes not only celebrates a decade of Carpenter’s standalone musical journey but also enriches the album’s legacy with new material that captures the spirit of its original sessions. Whether revisiting this masterpiece or experiencing it for the first time, listeners will find themselves immersed in Carpenter’s hauntingly beautiful worlds once again.

Songs of Experience is the second studio album by American composer and producer David Axelrod, released in October 1969 by Capitol Records. It was composed, arranged, and produced by Axelrod, who worked with session musicians such as guitarist Al Casey, drummer Earl Palmer, and conductor Don Randi. As with his 1968 debut album Song of Innocence, Axelrod composed musical interpretations of English poet William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, an 18th-century illustrated collection of poems. A jazz fusion album, Songs of Experience explores darker sounds than its predecessor, as the poems Axelrod drew on for inspiration dealt with the darker side of humanity. Its music was partly inspired by composer Gunther Schuller's Third Stream concept. Axelrod composed Baroque orchestrations with rock, R&B, pop, and folk music elements. Songs of Experience received retrospective acclaim from music critics, who found Axelrod's compositions musically varied and innovative. Contemporary musicians praised it as a source for sampling in hip hop production. Some of its songs have been sampled frequently by hip hop artists and producers. In 2000, the album was reissued by EMI.

The name of the young Czech virtuoso Michaela Koudelkova should be commited well to memory. She has far more going for her than just the names of her teachers (Peter Holtslag, Erik Bosgraaf). She is a winner of the Tel Aviv Recorder Competition and a fnalist of the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition in England, and her solo recitals have included an appearance at the prestigious Oude Muziek Festival in Utrecht.

Recording three studio albums for the EmArcy label, Cannonball Adderley's Sharpshooters were a very potent jazz band in the late 1950s, one that could literally swing the daylight outs of any situation and stand tall with their peer group. With pianist Junior Mance, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Jimmy Cobb, Cannonball and brother Nat Adderley were young and well-respected enough to lay claim to this quintet as a top five band along with any mainstream jazz groupings of the day. With quintessential small group players in the rhythm section, the Adderleys really have the best band anyone could hope for in a soul-jazz context, but also for hard bop. Tracks like Tadd Dameron's "Our Delight," the fast "Stay on It," and the standard "If I Love Again" are all superlative examples of rough-and-ready post-Charlie Parker music, especially the latter song where the horns delve into some fascinating interplay.

Louise will soon release her first solo album on Meridian Records “Mzansi Viola” with pianist Charles Matthews. A complete disc of world premieres of unpublished, unknown music for viola by South African composers including Joubert, Reddy, Stephenson, Rainier, Hofmeyr and Masebe. The second album also of South African music for viola will also be recorded in 2025. Thus will include music by Hofmeyr, Klatzow, Bell, Swanson, Zaidel-Rudolph, Feder and Grové.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a 50th Anniversary Remastered Edition of the debut album by The Moody Blues, "The Magnificent Moodies”.
Now associated as being pioneers of pro-gressive orchestral rock, the Moody Blues had another life between 1964-1966, as one of Britain’s finest Rhythm and Blues influenced acts. With a line-up of Denny Laine (Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica), Ray Thomas (Vocals, Harmonica, Flute), Mike Pinder (Keyboards, Vocals), Clint Warwick (Bass, Vocals) and Graeme Edge (Drums), the band signed to a London based management company who leased recordings to Decca Records. Their second single, a cover version of Bessie Banks’ ‘Go Now!’ was a huge chart success across the world. Their debut album, "The Magnificent Moodies” was released in1965 to great acclaim and tours with The Beatles eventually led them to become part of Brian Epstein’s management stable…

Adolphe Adam is famous for the popular ballets Giselle and Le Corsaire, with his stage works being highly influential in the development of 19th-century musical theatre, most especially in the evolution of the Romantic ballet. The colourful and innovative Griseldis, ou Les Cinq Sens narrates the adventures of Elfrid the Crown Prince of Bohemia, on a journey of discovery and growing self-awareness as he travels to meet his prospective bride, Griseldis, Princess of Moldova. Heard here in its world premiere recording, Griseldis is one of Adam’s most important ballets.

Kandace Springs' latest project, recorded in collaboration with the Academia de Música de Espinho's Orquestra Clássica de Espinho, is a heartfelt and sonically gorgeous tribute to one of her favorite artists, Billie Holiday, and her last great album, Lady in Satin. That album, comprising 12 songs from the great American songbook, was recorded in 1958 with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Ray Ellis.Kandace and the Academia spared no effort and expense in re-crea1ng and reimagining the sound and feel of that original recording, and the resulting creation has a romantic lushness that is rarely heard in music today.Classic songs, a critically, acclaimed orchestra, beautiful arrangements, and the soaring, soulful voice of Kandace Springs, all combine to make this record a milestone in her career.

What these sound recordings attempt to do is to bring you face-to-face — or, perhaps more appropriately, sound to-heart — with actual works of the troubadours and, occasionally, of others in their circle of influence. The task is daunting for so many reasons: songs got written down decades, even centuries, after their dates of creation; only about ten percent of the original melodies survive; and most direct knowledge of how performers worked out their interpretations at the time has been lost. We know nothing whatsoever about the singing style, or about the techniques of instrumental accompaniment that may have been employed. These performances, therefore, of necessity, reflect a confluence of musicological and philological knowledge with performers' instincts and intuitions, as all of these tendencies interacted with each other at a specific moment in history, the late twentieth century.

Both more and less than what a partnership of Sumner and Marr would promise, Electronic's debut has weathered time much better than might have been thought upon its release, but ultimately only half works. When it does, though, it's fantastic, sometimes shifting from okay to fantastic within the same song. Opening number "Idiot Country" is a bit like that - the beginning sounds a little too rushed, Marr's heavy wah-wah riff OK enough but Sumner's semi-rap/semi-sung vocals a bit ham-handed. By the time the full combination of gentle keyboards, crisp rhythms, and the gentle, reflective chorus comes to bear, though, everything feels just great. Perhaps understandably Electronic leans much more toward New Order than the Smiths - Marr had already proven his desire to work in dance-crossover since his previous band's breakup, while Sumner's immediately recognizable, melancholic vocals call to mind New Order's rich history…

Acknowledged as a definitive model of Italian Romantic melodrama, Lucia di Lammermoor was one of Donizetti’s greatest triumphs, and its popularity led him to produce a French version for Parisian audiences. Lucie de Lammermoor became the ‘other Lucia’, with the opera’s tragic tale of feuding families and doomed romance modified in a way that deepens the characters and makes it an even more brutal and emotional theatrical experience than the original. This new Lucie de Lammermoor made its debut in 1839 with enormous success, becoming a cornerstone of French culture.