This recording of Brahms' four symphonies suggests that Simon Rattle has given little thought to the works. Rattle leads the Berliner Philharmoniker in respectable performances, with the details all in place, the tempos all moving forward, the harmonies all connected, and the themes and their developments all coherent.

My own music is influenced by the music of Bach. Having studied in the 'Bach city' of Leipzig, fallen in love with his fugues as a child and won with his Preludes in the Jugend musiziert competition, achieved my first Bach cycle with the Goldberg Variations, then I was moved more and more deeply by the Credo, the inner conviction, in Bach's music. My imaginative powers, my musical energy (timbres, sounds, creativity, and poetry) must be imbued with this richness. New music looks quite different from what it was in Bach's day (some even say it is all philosophy now, no melodies, notes or harmonies required).

Nach zwei erfolgreichen Einspielungen mit Werken von Chopin und Schumann "wagt" sich der in Bulgarien geborene Pianist Martin Ivanov an die Produktion einer Liszt-CD, und präsentiert dabei auch dessen wohl bedeutendstes Werk für Klavier solo, die Sonate in h-Moll S 178.

The present album features four works which have come to the forefront of repertoire for solo cello from the modern era. Arnold Bax’s Rhapsodic Ballad is his only solo piece for this instrument. It is dramatic, inventive and full of atmosphere. Likely the most often performed of his earlier works, Ligeti’s Sonata for Solo Cello has for over a decade been used as a test piece for the Rostropovich Competition in Paris. Dallapiccola’s composition was written for the Spanish cellist Gaspar Cassadó. It is a substantial, powerful work, and an early serial composition of the composer, full of colourful effects and humour.

Tenor Kristian Benedikt began his career as a lyric tenor in his native Lithuania, but has since blossomed into one of the opera world’s finest dramatic tenors in challenging roles like Otello. His immensely powerful and dark-hued voice enables him to shine in several of Wagner’s “Heldentenor” roles as well; yet he remains a highly versatile singer who also continues to excel in lyric and spinto roles.In this, Kristian’s debut recording, he proves his wide-ranging artistry in a highly varied program of mostly well-known arias by composers including Verdi, Puccini, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Tchaikovsky and Wagner (among others).

AMERICAN SOUL: …from Broadway to Paris is the title of Duo Rosa's second opus, featuring art songs, Broadway melodies and cabaret tunes. In this new project, the two musicians maintain a concept that was one of the keys to the previous album's success: a blend of classical and popular music in a varied, accessible programme that pleases audiences of all ages, regardless of whether they are classical music lovers or not. To grasp the audience's attention and hold them spellbound, the duo has selected a series of highly popular songs combined with less well-known classical melodies.

A selection of Dowland's solo lute music played by Paul Beier.

To mark the 60th birthday of British composer Jonathan Dove, Orchid Classics presents an album devoted to his extraordinary orchestral music, performed by the BBC Philharmonic. Under the direction of Timothy Redmond, the BBC Philharmonic performs works which span nearly two decades, from The Ringing Isle of 1997, to Gaia Theory, premiered at the BBC Proms in 2014. The Ringing Isle was inspired by Handel’s observation about the bells he heard upon arriving in England; Dove uses bell-ringing patterns and allusions to Gaunt’s famous ‘scepter'd isle’ speech from Shakespeare’s Richard II.

“The piano becomes part of my body to express all my passion and love which I feel for music. Through my hands, the Steinway speaks to the audience with its own beautiful voice.” (Hai-Kyung Suh)

Beethoven‘s symphonies pose without any doubt one of the greatest artistic challenges to every conductor. Of the countless questions about what an authentic interpretation means, I am addressing only one here, namely the problem of Beethoven’s metronome markings. As we know, the first metronomes were built in Vienna during Beethoven’s lifetime and he did then give metronome markings to his pieces (retrospectively in most cases).

Kiyoshi Shomura's guitar lessons began at the age of nine, first studying with his father, Masato Shomura, and later with Yasumasa Ohara. In 1964, Mr. Shomura traveled to Spain to study with renowned guitarist, Narciso Yepes, who during a visit to Japan the previous year recognized Mr. Shomura's potential. Mr. Shomura performed several recitals in Europe during his stay in 1967-68.

The success of "EYDIE GORME" my "first album" was so extraordinary that I became an instant headliner and with Don Costa as my musical arranger and conductor I began working the big night clubs all over the country. Steve Allen my TV boss, would allow me from time to time to go out on personal appearances and then return to the show where I could sing my songs on his "Tonight Show"… the TV exposure was astounding.

On 7 February 1956, Ella Fitzgerald was at the Capitol Studios in Hollywood to begin one of the most remarkable series of recordings in the history of modern music. Joining her was Norman Granz, the founder and guiding light behind Verve Records and his arranger and A&R man, 15-year-old Buddy Bregman. They were there to start work on Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook, it was to be the first in a series of albums where Ella explored the Great American Songbook, songwriter by songwriter.

This discount-priced two-fer combines two up-tempo Doris Day albums from the late '50s and early '60s. The discs were not released sequentially; 1959's Cuttin' Capers was followed by two 1960 releases, What Every Girl Should Know and Show Time, before Bright and Shiny appeared in 1961.

Maluma has officially revealed the album cover and track list for 11:11, coining the announcement as a “very special day” on social media.