Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. project with his former bandmates from the Miles Davis Quintet – Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams – and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard was a band that almost single-handedly tried to re-establish acoustic jazz in the United States. And though they made three recordings, all of which were favorably reviewed and heralded by true jazz fans, none of them sold very well, and the band could find few gigs in the United States. The 1978 tour of major cities was thought to be a triumph at the time, but the unit could find few gigs afterward, and so its various members all went back to their other projects. In 1979, they got the opportunity to tour Japan and jumped at the chance. Sony, Hancock's Japanese label, recorded the two evenings, and the first, which took place during a furious rainstorm, was broadcast live on national television! Live Under the Sky marks the first time that this album has been available in the United States in any form.

Raphaël Pichon has had dual careers as a countertenor and later as the founder and director of the historically oriented choir Pygmalion. That group has developed into a major force in the performance of French Baroque opera.

Originally issued in 1994 as Christmas Spirit, this ten-song holiday collection mixes both traditional and contemporary favorites, and also places Summer in a wide variety of vocal styles from jazz to choral without pigeonholing her in the predictable disco and dance world. This may come as a shock to casual fans, but die-hard fans who have followed Summer throughout her career will find this a pleasant addition to her already versatile career and a nice alternative to predictable holiday music fare.

In celebration of his 80th birthday, this four-disc set spans more than five decades of Michael Tilson Thomas' compositional career. It features 18 works, from premiere recordings to remastered archival recordings available for the first time. The deluxe collection also includes an extensive booklet containing composer's notes, original essays, and a timeline of archival photos chronicling MTT's life as a pianist, conductor, composer, recording artist, and teacher. All proceeds from GRACE: The Music of Michael Tilson Thomas will be donated to brain cancer research at the University of California, San Francisco Brain Tumor Center.

The Sainte-Colombe family remains a source of mystery to this day: the first name and the origins of the father, who taught Marin Marais and composed numerous pieces for one or two viols, remains hidden in the mists of time. The same obscurity surrounds his son or sons: records show a few traces of him in London and Edinburgh around 1700, although all that is really known of him comes from the Pieces de viole recorded here; these five suites of dances in the French style, including a Tombeau pour Mr de Sainte-Colombe le pere, have survived in a non-autograph manuscript. The version presented here breaks with the usual interpretations of these Pieces de Viole, as it includes a reconstruction of a basso continuo part as was common in works by composers of the son's generation. The non-autograph source that has survived gives a general feeling that something is missing in the harmonic structure, a lack that is here filled by this new basso continuo part. Reconstructed in the musical language and style of the time, the music of Sainte-Colombe's son here seems to come back to life; these pieces have not only recovered their full meaning but also reveal a sublime music.

Since the Baroque revival of the late 1980s, Iphigenie en Aulide is Gluck's only French opera to have remained unrecorded (in the studio and released on CD) on period instruments. To celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2024, Julien Chauvin, Le Concert de la Loge, Les Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles and a top-flight cast led by Judith Van Wanroij, Stephanie d'Oustrac, Cyrille Dubois, Tassis Christoyannis, Jean-Sebastien Bou and David Witczak have filled that gap with a new recording of the work which revolutionised the aesthetics of French opera. It is underpinned by in-depth musicological and stylistic research carried out by the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles in collaboration with Julien Chauvin, in this, his first operatic recording.

"The performance was sublime in its own right, with musical heroes at every turn and leadership from the podium whose depth and acuity transcended normal expectations." - Musical America.

Mit ihrem außergewöhnlichen Mix aus packendem Rock, traditionellen Shanty-Einflüssen, hochprozentigen Irish-Folk-Elementen und sofort ins Ohr gehenden Pop-Melodien begeistern Santiano ein Publikum jedes Alters. Mittlerweile blickt die von der Flensburger Förde stammende Formation auf über 5,5 Millionen verkaufte Einheiten ihrer acht aufeinanderfolgenden Top 1-Alben, weit mehr als 1 Milliarde Streams sowie über 1,5 Millionen verkaufte Tickets ihrer 500+ gespielten Konzerte zurück.
Mit ihrer neuen Single „Retter in der Not“ verbeugen sich Santiano vor den Seenotrettern der Nord- und Ostsee und liefern auch den ersten Vorboten der Neuauflage ihres aktuellen Top 1-Albums „Doggerland“, mit dem die Band Ende letzten Jahres zum achten (!) Mal in Folge die Spitze der Hitparade enterte - ein wohl beispielloser Erfolg in der Geschichte der deutschen Charts! Um diesen historischen Triumphzug gemeinsam mit ihren Fans zu feiern, erscheint der Longplayer im Herbst als erweiterte Edition mit dem Titel „Doggerland – SOS ins Nirgendwo“, die neben allen Hits der Originalversion insgesamt fünf neue Titel enthält. Die Deluxe Edition beinhaltet darüber hinaus noch die Santiano Dokumentation "Keiner geht verloren" (auf DVD und Blu-Ray) . Sie wirft einen Blick zurück auf die letzten 10 Jahre der Bandgründung - stellt die Band in allen ihren Facetten vor und beleuchtet den Werdegang der Musiker – ihre Triumphe und Schicksalsschläge.

25 years of La Cetra Basel! To celebrate this anniversary, La Cetra and Arcana are releasing the "greatest musical masterpiece of all time", as the work was called in the 19th century: Bach's Mass in B minor. "It is a dream come true to have recorded this work for La Cetra's 25th jubilee - the best birthday present ever!" says maestro Andrea Marcon. Under his direction, La Cetra Basel has made a name for itself in recent years with acclaimed interpretations of J. S. Bach's most important sacred works. Featuring top-flight soloists, this recording presents Andrea Marcon's particular vision for this Mass, notable for the division of voices between "concertists" and "ripienists". The sonority and character of each movement emerge from the skilfully crafted balance between solos and tuttis, creating a three-dimensional sound reminiscent of a three-manual organ. The result is a unique tonality, full of fresh nuances and colours, and no doubt very close to what Bach had imagined.

For the first time on vinyl –Premonition, the first live album released by John Fogerty as a solo artist. Featuring the hits of Creedence Clearwater Revival, as well as songs from his solo career. The album was recorded in front of a live audience at WarnerBros. Studios Stage 15 on December 12 and 13, 1997. Featuring “Born On The Bayou”, “Centerfield,” Fortunate Son”, “Proud Mary” and many more.

This is the first recording of pianist Igor Levit, conductor Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic with Brahms’ two Piano Concertos. The release is a triple-CD album with Levit’s recording of Brahm’s late solo piano works opp 116-119. As a special encore Levit and Thielemann also play the four-hand Brahms Waltz op. 39/15 together. The album will be out internationally on October 4 on Sony Classical.

Seit Jahrzehnten gefeiert für ihren scheuklappenfreien Sound, für ein vertontes „Jeföhl“, das man trotz kölscher Mundart überall versteht, für ihre Abstecher in andere kulturelle Kontexte – von der eigenen Rock and Roll Circus-Show bis nach Wacken – schlagen die Höhner im Frühjahr 2024 das nächste Kapitel auf mit 11 brandneuen Hits. Dazu gibt es ein Sound-Update, denn die Höhner präsentieren obendrein Neuaufnahmen von 11 zeitlosen Meilensteinen aus der Bandgeschichte.

Grateful Dead So much more than just the archetypal jam band, the Grateful Dead grew to become an artistic and cultural institution that existed entirely on their own terms. While the band initially came out of a psychedelic revolution in the Bay Area's musically and chemically exploratory mid-'60s, they quickly evolved from their acid rock beginnings, incorporating elements of Americana and Bakersfield country into gently majestic albums like 1970's American Beauty. Their live shows were completely separate from their studio output, based on freeform improvisation borrowed from jazz and made up of extended performances and set list variations that ensured no two shows were exactly like.

Barbra Streisand makes a point of noting that she completed this, her second Christmas album, before the tragic events of September 11, 2001, even going so far as to list the recording dates (July 19-September 7, 2001). And listening to the disc, you can see why. If great artists sometimes demonstrate an uncanny ability to take the temperature of the times with their work, this one can be said to have anticipated the dramatic change in mood that the terrorist attacks occasioned. Christmas music always mixes the celebratory with the nostalgic, some of its classic songs dating from the World War II era when families were separated and feared they might not be reunited. But Streisand's Christmas Memories accentuates that tone well into melancholy.

Her curiosity, her thirst for discovery and her audacity have led her to cultivate eclecticism, to follow paths less travelled and to take us to places where we might not have expected her to go. Deeply committed to the process of creating new music, she has also developed a passion for the minimalist movement and a notable penchant for music stripped down to extreme starkness. From her many immersions in often hypnotic sound worlds, Vanessa Wagner has emerged a different person, freer and more willing to reveal herself. And so it is that today she offers us what is probably her most personal recording, a programme she developed over two long years, constructing an imaginary, fantasised narrative based on miniatures by Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Glinka. The pianist becomes the author and narrator of a story of shadows and light.