The violin concertos by Barber and Korngold were composed within six years of each other. The Barber is a particularly challenging work, but there is no evidence of this in Alexander Gilman's performance with the Cape Town Philharmonic. The programme is completed by the Carmen Fantasy by Franz Waxman from the film Humoresque and the famous main theme from Schindler's List by John Williams.

Alexander Gilman (violin)
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Perry So

Composers

Barber, Samuel (1910-81)
Korngold, Erich Wolfgang (1897-1957)
Waxman, Franz (1906-67)
Williams, John Towner (b.1932)

Works

Barber: Violin Concerto, Op. 14
Korngold: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
Waxman, F: Carmen Fantasy
Williams, John: Schindler's List: Theme

Eric Whitacre follows the Grammy-winning success of his debut Decca album, Light and Gold (2743209), with Water Night, a brand new album that features no less than seven World Premiere Recordings. Light and Gold was awarded 'Best Choral Performance' in February 2012 at the 54th Grammy Awards for Whitacre's first recording as both composer and conductor. This second disc for Decca juxtaposes music written as a young composer alongside brand new repertoire, both choral and orchestral, displaying the different influences and styles of Whitacre.

The Eric Whitacre Singers positively shimmer on these world premiere recordings of “Alleluia” and “Oculi Omnium”, two of the brand new works alongside one of the greats of his oeuvre, “Her Sacred Spirit Soars”. “Equus” is played by the full forces of the London Symphony Orchestra.

By way of contrast, “The River Cam” is a beautiful, pastoral piece that demonstrates Nevada-born Whitacre's absorption of the works of Elgar and Vaughan Williams during his time in the UK as a visiting Fellow at Cambridge University. It was written at the invitation of the distinguished cellist, Julian Lloyd Webber, to mark his 60th birthday in 2011, who also gives the performance here.

An unexpected gem of the album is a setting of Goodnight Moon, the multi-million selling American children's book by Margaret Wise Brown (Harper Collins). Written for soprano and strings, this tender piece is performed by Hila Plitmann, a Grammy-winning artist with great commitment to contemporary music.

The title track, “Water Night”, is one of Eric Whitacre's most performed works, heard on this album performed by the strings of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Julian Lloyd Webber (cello), Hila Plitman (soprano)
The Eric Whitacre Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Eric Whitacre

Composers

Whitacre, Eric (b.1970)

Works

Whitacre: Alleluia
Whitacre: Equus
Whitacre: Goodnight Moon
Whitacre: Her sacred spirit soars
Whitacre: Oculi Omnium
Whitacre: Sleep My Child
Whitacre: The River Cam
Whitacre: Water Night
Whitacre: When David Heard

Patrick Summers/Houston Grand Opera Orchestra/Joyce DiDonato/Philip Cutlip/Measha Brueggergosman/Michael Sumuel/Beau Gibson/Richard Bado/Frederica von Stade/Austin Dean/Cullen King/John Packard/Cheryl Parrish/Susanne Mentzer/Jon Kolbet/Care, Patrick Summers/Houston Grand Opera Orchestra/Joyce DiDonato/Philip Cutlip/Michael Sumuel/Beau Gibson/Hector Vásquez/Boris Dyakov/Richard Bado/John Packard/Cheryl Parrish/Susanne Mentzer/Jon Kolbet/Carey Michael O'Rarden/Bradley Blunt/Wesle, Patrick Summers/Houston Grand Opera Orchestra/Joyce DiDonato/Philip Cutlip/Measha Brueggergosman/Brittany Wheeler/Kiri Deonarine/Michael Sumuel/Beau Gibson/Hector Vásquez/Frederica von Stade/Richard Bado/John Packard/Cheryl Parrish/Susanne, James Jennings (lead vocals), Larry Kimpel (bass), Austin Dean (lead vocals), John Packard (lead vocals), Kiri Deonarine (lead vocals), Susanne Mentzer (featured vocalist), Michael Sumuel (lead vocals), Measha Brueggergosman (lead vocals), Wesley Landry (lead vocals), Mike Thompson (electric guitar), Brittany Wheeler (lead vocals), Cheryl Parrish (lead vocals), James R. Jennings (featured vocalist), Mike Thompson (acoustic guitar), Zander Shepeard (lead vocals), Leslie Biffle (lead vocals), Todd Sucherman (drums), Frederica von Stade (lead vocals), Laurelle Gowing (lead vocals), Jon Kolbet (lead vocals), Rahki DeShon Marcelous (lead vocals), Todd Sucherman (percussion), Suzanne Mentzer (vocals), Brian Culbertson (performed by), Kathleen Manley (lead vocals), Nancy Hall (lead vocals), Bradley Blunt (lead vocals), Dave Koz (saxophone), Carey Michael O'Rarden (lead vocals), Brian Hamlin (lead vocals), Tollak Ollestad (harmonica), Hector Vásquez (featured vocalist), Joyce DiDonato (mezzo-soprano), Cullen King (lead vocals), Heather Sanders (lead vocals), Jimmy Demers (featured vocalist), Beau Gibson (lead vocals), Philip Cutlip (lead vocals), Matt Hune (lead vocals), Brian P. Hamlin (featured vocalist), Boris Dyakov (lead vocals)
Orchestra of Houston Grand Opera, Houston Grand Opera Chorus, Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Richard Bado
Patrick Summers
Recorded: 2011-01-01
Recording Venue: Houston Grand Opera

Joyce DiDonato (Sister Helen Prejean), Philip Cutlip (Joseph de Rocher), Frederica von Stade (Mrs de Rocher), Measha Brueggergosman (Sister Rose), Cheryl Parrish (Kitty Hart), Susanne Mentzer (Jade Boucher), Jon Kolbet (Howard Boucher)
Houston Grand Opera & Chorus, Patrick Summers

Composers

Heggie, Jake (b.1961)

Works

Heggie: Dead Man Walking

Berthold Hops (harpsichord), Regina Klepper (soprano), Martina Borst (alto), Stefan Adelmann (double bass),Berthold Hops (harpsichord)
Bamberg String Quartet

Composers

Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista (1710-36)

Works

Pergolesi: Orfeo
Pergolesi: Orfeo (Cantata)
Pergolesi: Salve Regina in C minor
Pergolesi: Stabat Mater

Orchestre National de France, Lorin Maazel

Composers

Holst, Gustav Theodore (1874-1934)
Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937)

Works

Holst: The Planets, Op. 32
Ravel: Boléro

After their acclaimed recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies in a new musical guise, a highly-regarded cycle of Richard Strauss's tone poems, the complete Mahler symphonies and a number of other musical projects with which they attracted widespread attention, David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich now devote themselves to the symphonies of Franz Schubert.

Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, David Zinman

Composers

Schubert, Franz Peter (1797-1828)

Works

Schubert: Symphony No. 1 in D major, D82
Schubert: Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, D125

This is the second release on Capriccio by the Signum Quartett. After the success of their first recording, a disc of String Quartets by Ludwig Thuille (C5049), they return with Quartet Movements which have all found their way into concert schedules worldwide.

Featuring Quartet Movements by Anton von Webern, Hugo Wolf, Giocomo Puccini and Charles Ives amongst others, the Signum Quartett give dynamic and fresh performances.

Composers

Ives, Charles (1874-1954)
Orff, Carl (1895-1982)
Puccini, Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria (1858-1924)
Rihm, Wolfgang (b.1952)
Schubert, Franz Peter (1797-1828)
Webern, Anton (1883-1945)
Wolf, Hugo (1860-1903)

Works

Ives, C: Scherzo
Orff: Quartet Movement, Op. 22
Puccini: Crisantemi
Rihm: String Quartet No. 9 'Quartettsatz'
Schubert: String Quartet No. 12 in C minor (fragment), D703 'Quartettsatz'
Webern: Langsamer Satz, (slow movement), Op. post. (1905)
Wolf, H: Italian Serenade in G major

From folk music to film music, the violin is the star of instruments. Millions of children all over the world learn how to play it and the top performers make it sound beautiful. They can also do clever things on it, with their fingers whizzing up and down, and the bow moving so fast you can hardly see it. Take the music of Mr Paganini on track 1 - he really knew how to show off. Here is the violin in the spotlight: listen to it sing!

Artists

Ilya Kaler (violin), Takako Nishizaki (violin), Jenö Jandó (piano), Alexander Jablokov (violin), Chloë Hanslip (violin), Caspar Frantz (piano), Tianwa Yang (violin), Thelma Handy (violin)

Cappella Istropolitana, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Navarre Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Ferenc Santa Jr. Gypsy Band, Stephen Gunzenhauser, Oliver von Dohnányi, Kenneth Jean, Dmitry Yablonsky, Ernest Martinez Izquierdo, Carl Davis, Theodore Kuchar

Composers
Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750)
Bazzini, Antonio (1818-97)
Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827)
Dvořák, Antonín (1841-1904)
Elgar, Edward William (1857-1934)
Granados, Enrique (1867-1916)
Kreisler, Fritz (1875-1962)
Massenet, Jules Emile Frederic (1842-1912)
Mendelssohn, Felix (1809-47)
Monti, Vittorio (1868-1922)
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-91)
Paganini, Niccolò (1782-1840)
Sarasate, Pablo de (1844-1908)
Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-75)
Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-93)
Williams, John Towner (b.1932)
Works
Bach, J S: Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV1043
Bazzini: La Ronde des lutins, Op. 25
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major, Op. 12 No. 1
Dvořák: Slavonic Dances Nos. 1-8, Op. 46 Nos. 1-8
Elgar: Salut d'amour, Op. 12
Granados: Danza española, Op. 37 No. 5 'Andaluza'
Kreisler: Humoreske (after Dvořák)
Massenet: Meditation (from Thaïs)
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Monti, V: Csárdás
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K216
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 24 in A minor
Paganini: Caprices for solo violin, Op. 1 Nos. 1-24
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 1 in E major 'The Arpeggio'
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 2 in B minor
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 3 in E minor
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 4 in C minor
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 5 in A minor
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 6 in G minor
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 7 in A minor
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 8 in E flat major
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 9 in E major 'The Hunt'
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 10 in G minor
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 11 in C major
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 12 in A flat major
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 13 in B flat major
Paganini: Caprice for solo violin, Op. 1 No. 14 in E flat major

BIS present a new recording of Jean Sibelius's Symphonies 2 and 5 from the Minnesota Orchestra and their Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä.

Beginning in the early 1990s, seminal recordings with Vänskä and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra of tone poems and the seven symphonies stood at the forefront of a new interpretative approach to the composer's music.

Vänskä's recordings of Sibelius over the past 20 years form the backbone of the label's newly completed Sibelius Edition.

This disc with the Minnesota Orchestra follows an acclaimed cycle of Beethoven's symphonies, and most recently a recording of Bruckner's Fourth ('Romantic') Symphony.

The Sibelius expert Robert Layton presents the Second Symphony as 'the symphony by which many music lovers find their way to Sibelius', and quotes the composer in a comment about symphonic form: 'a river with innumerable tributaries feeding it before it broadens majestically and flows into the sea'.

Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä

Composers

Sibelius, Jean (1865-1957)

Works

Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82

Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev

Composers

Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827)

Works

Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica'

Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy

Composers

Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-93)

Works

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for strings in C major, Op. 48
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano)
The Cleveland Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy

Composers

Rachmaninov, Sergey Vassilievich (1873-1943)

Works

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 1
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein
Recorded: 1984-01-31
Recording Venue: Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Wien

Composers

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-91)

Works

Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major, K551 'Jupiter'

Works

Albinoni: Concerto Op. 9 No. 2 for oboe & strings in D minor
Albinoni: Concerto Op. 9 No. 3 for two oboes & strings in F major
Albinoni: Concerto Op. 9 No. 8 for oboe & strings in G minor
Albinoni: Concerto Op. 9 No. 9 for two oboes & strings in C major
Albinoni: Trumpet Concerto in D Minor, Op. 9 No.2
Marcello, A: Oboe Concerto in D Minor
Vivaldi: Oboe Concerto in C major, RV446

Joanna Koslowska (soprano)
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Kazimierz Kord
Recorded: 1993-06

Composers

Gorecki, Henryk Mikolaj (1933-2010)

Works

Gorecki: Symphony No. 3, Op. 36 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs'