Klassiskt

Sokolov Grigory: Schubert/Schumann/Chopin... [Digipack / 2 CD]

Di Stefano: 7 Complete Operas [14 CD]

One God - Psalms and Hymns from Orient [CD]

The dynamic young cellist who rocketed to fame as half of the genre-busting worldwide musical sensation 2CELLOS, HAUSER is releasing his first solo recording for Sony Classical - Classic, a collection of the most beautiful melodies from classical music and beyond, with the London Symphony Orchestra. Each piece on Classic is a longtime favorite of HAUSER's, which he chose to reinterpret for the cello along with arranger Robin Smith and producer Nick Patrick.<br/><br/>Following the release of HAUSER's acclaimed Classic album earlier this year, Sony Classical is pleased to announce a Deluxe CD+DVD edition of the album. <br/> <br/>The audio disc contains sixteen tracks, and includes some of the most beloved classical melodies ever written, each a personal, longtime favorite of HAUSER's - which he's carefully curated and rearranged for the cello. Among them are Bach's Air on a G String, the Nocturne from Borodin's String Quartet, Puccini's Nessun Dorma, Yiruma's River Flows in You, and tracks by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninov.<br/> <br/>"It's simple," says HAUSER when asked to describe Classic. "It's the most beautiful, the most romantic melodies ever written in classical music - by the greatest composers - played on the cello, the most beautiful and romantic instrument of all." HAUSER could hardly be blamed for calling each of the compositions on Classic "the most iconic" or "the most beautiful" or "the most romantic" melody in classical music. Because they are. Working alongside arranger Robin Smith and producer Nick Patrick, HAUSER has adopted these immortal compositions for the cello, letting them sing as never before with help from the London Symphony Orchestra. <br/> <br/>The video disc contains a specially-edited visual program comprised of all three of the Alone, Together solo performances that were filmed earlier this year at Croatia's Arena Pula, Krka Waterfalls National Park, and the historic old town of Dubrovnik. Captured at some of the Balkan country's most stunning locations, the longform performance features HAUSER's renditions of classic compositions, as well as popular themes from film and television - including Albinoni's Adagio, Song from a Secret Garden, and fittingly, Game of Thrones, which given that much of the television program was filmed within the medieval walls of Dubrovnik's old town, was an obvious choice for inclusion.<br/><br/>CD+DVD<br/>DELUXE EDITION

Fröst Martin: B.A.C.H. 2025 [CD]

Huelgas Ensemble: Lamentations de la Renaissance [CD]

Richard Hickox and Opera Australia's Australian premiere production of Dvorák's Rusalka opened to spectacular reviews in March 2007. 'Hickox and the orchestra capture its sudden changeability and dramatic force, elegantly shaping the luscious, sweeping melodies while inflecting the intoxicating, folk music-inspired rhythms with grace and bite', noted The Australian. Chandos recorded the performances live and here releases the opera on a 3-CD set.<br/><br/>Inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's fairy-tale The Little Mermaid, Rusalka tells of a water-spirit who falls in love with a prince. Enlisting the help of a witch, Rusalka becomes human so as to marry him. When the prince tires of her, and is unfaithful, she tries to return to the water, but a condition of her becoming human has been violated and she eventually dies together with the remorseful prince. Her story is of human desire, self-sacrifice and the search for enlightenment.<br/><br/>By the time Dvorák came to write Rusalka, he was an experienced opera composer with nine works to his credit; Rusalka was to be his last and is now a seasoned favourite. Part of the secret of the score's magic lies in the instrumental colouring. Dvorák was always inspired in his handling of the orchestra, but in Rusalka he reaches new heights of expressive scene painting. In the hands of Richard Hickox these elements are skillfully realised.<br/><br/>Taking the role of Rusalka for the first time in this production, the Australian-born soprano Cheryl Barker won deserved plaudits for her performances throughout the Australian press. 'It is hard to imagine anyone doing the title role better" (The Australian). 'Cheryl Barker gives an astonishing performance. she manages to capture the ethereal other-worldly quality of the water spirit, both physically and vocally, and her realization that her love for the prince is not returned is heart wrenching' (The Canberra Review). She is joined in leading roles by Rosario La Spina, Elizabeth Whitehouse, Bruce Martin and Anne-Marie Owens who also received excellent reviews. The Sydney Morning Herald, for example, wrote, 'Barker is not the only star. Elizabeth Whitehouse is thrillingly venal as the rival foreign princess, and Bruce Martin, as the water sprite, has insistent potency'.