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Vladimir Ashkenazy, who was appointed principal conductor of the Sydney Symphony in 2009, puts his orchestra through its paces in this vibrant Exton album. Far less frequently performed and recorded than the darker First Symphony, Edward Elgar's Second Symphony in E flat major is a work written on an exceptionally grand scale. Elgar scored the symphony for an extended triple woodwind section, extra percussion, and even two harps.

Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. was an American Latin jazz musician, known as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, even as he continued to perform the music of Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America for the rest of his life. "Soña Libré" is his 1963 album. Billboard magazine reviewed the album in their May 25, 1963 issue and wrote that on the album Tjader has "a solid collection of tracks that have swing and a quiet insistent sound".

This double-disc set is a determined effort to clear the shelf and record as much of Dave Brubeck's classical output as possible while the composer was still around to participate and guide the performers' hands. The project was done in only four sessions at London's Abbey Road Studios without the benefit of tuneup concerts; conductor Russell Gloyd says that the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices were practically sight-reading throughout…

Shut Down Volume 2 is the fifth album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on March 2, 1964 on Capitol. Produced by Brian Wilson, it was the first of three studio albums that the band would release in 1964. The album is the first not to feature rhythm guitarist David Marks, who departed from the band following disagreements with manager Murry Wilson. The "Volume 2" in the album's title refers to a previously released multi-artist compilation album featuring and named after the Beach Boys' song "Shut Down", issued eight months earlier by the band's label, Capitol.

In 1974, Carlo Maria Giulini and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra recorded Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 in C minor for EMI, an unusual selection for the time but one the conductor had chosen among a number of core works he wished to interpret with this orchestra. The Bruckner's Ninth dated from 1976, with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is among the finest ever recorded. The CSO's brass players were born to play Bruckner, and Giulini combines toughness with an Italianate singing quality to make the third movement particularly memorable and elegiac.

Smiley Smile is the 12th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on September 18, 1967. Devised as a simplified version of their then-forthcoming Smile—a different, much more elaborately constructed LP—Smiley Smile contrasts significantly with its minimalist approach and Lo-Fi production. Its music is often cited for having positive effects during an LSD comedown, and was used by at least one drug clinic to help relieve users from bad trips. Regarded as a forerunner to certain bedroom pop acts, in 1974, it was voted the 64th greatest album of all time by NME writers and, in 2000, it was one of 100 albums featured in the book The Ambient Century as a landmark in the development of ambient music.

The name of the oboist and conductor Alexey Utkin is now well known both in Russia and abroad. His great natural talent was developed by the brilliant musical education he has received in the Moscow Conservatory. In 2000 Utkin set up and headed The Ensemble of Soloists “Hermitage”. On delectable SACD from Caro Mitis Alexi Utkin playing music of Haydn, one of his favorite composers. The Oboe Concerto actually wasn’t written by Haydn although attributed to him, the oboe plays a relatively insignificant part as one of four soloists in the well-known Sinfonia concertante, and the oboe d’amore here replaces the cello in the Divertimento. Exquisite performances, beautifully recorded.

The Who Sell Out is the third studio album by the British rock band the Who. It was released on 15 December 1967 by Track Records in the UK and Decca Records in the US. A concept album, The Who Sell Out is structured as a collection of unrelated songs interspersed with fake commercials and public service announcements. The album purports to be a broadcast by pirate radio station Radio London. The reference to "selling out" was an intended irony, as the Who had been making real commercials during that period of their career. This release uses the 2012 DSD master based on UK original analog tape.

The second volume of many tracks from the Japanese Venus Records catalog. This sampler includes tracks from Phil Woods, Eric Alexander, Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, Alexis Cole, and many more.

Dating from the 1970s, Rafael Kubelik’s incisive and acclaimed reading of Beethoven’s second and fifth symphonies in the Remastered Classics series from Pentatone, performed with panache by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.