David Fray

David Fray adds a landmark of the solo keyboard repertoire to his Bach discography: the Goldberg Variations.

David Fray returns to Schubert with his much-anticipated second recording of the composer’s piano music, a collection of passionate late works. Along with the Sonata in G D894 ‘Fantasie’ and the Hungarian Melody D817, Fray presents two duets for piano four-hands, both composed in the last year of Schubert’s life: the Fantasia in F minor D940 and the towering Allegro in A minor D947, ‘Lebensstürme’ (‘Storms of Life’). Fray invited Jacques Rouvier, his mentor and renowned teacher from the Paris Conservatoire, to join him in the studio, making this album a true labour of love.

David Fray, described as “perhaps the most inspired, certainly the most original Bach-player of his generation,” launched his Virgin Classics career with Bach and this is his third album to feature the composer’s keyboard music. “We shouldn’t be afraid of acknowledging the expressiveness of Bach’s music,” says Fray. “The Romantics don’t have a monopoly on expressivity!”

The music on this album gives rise to two intriguing questions. Firstly, are these concertos original Bachian creations? Secondly, should they be played on modern pianos. The two issues are in fact closely linked by the idea of transcription.

Chopin’s music had been absent from Fray’s active repertoire for some 15 years before he recorded this recital, which comprises seven of the composer’s nocturnes, three mazurkas, a polonaise, a waltz and an impromptu. When Fray talks about Chopin – who died in Paris in 1849 aged just 39, having exercised a transformative influence on the piano repertoire – it becomes clear that he sees the composer’s work in archetypally Romantic terms: “For me, Chopin’s music is very fragile, vaporous, perfumed … somewhat intangible.

The violin was one of Bach’s favourite instruments and inspired his most lyrical outpourings. We know he was greatly influenced by the Italian masters whose work he discovered during his Weimar years – by the power of Frescobaldi, the melodic flexibility of Corelli, the sunny grace of Vivaldi – but he developed his own wonderful artistry in writing music of polyphonic density for the violin and “playing” with its sound palette. His deep understanding of the instrument clearly enabled him to exploit its full potential and to write as well as perform music of the utmost virtuosity.

It is perhaps her most personal album yet, as crafted with GRAMMY Award-winning co-producer and co-writer of most of the songs on the album David Garza (Fiona Apple, Gaby Moreno). The tracks and melodies pull you toward Lucy’s poignant insights of matters of the heart in the world’s fragile present. David and Lucy spent several weeks in downtown LA writing these stories about women, the ones she grew up with—the fiercely independent and unconventional women who raised her—and those she merely observed from afar, whether in the sandbox or on the subway. Lucy soon found herself writing songs like she’d never written before, or had never even thought about writing before. Lucy says, “a different kind of songwriter in me snuck up on me and hit me hard.”

Let’s Eat Grandma, the duo composed of songwriters, multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth, release their third full-length album. Two Ribbons was co-produced by David Wrench and Let’s Eat Grandma. Standouts include the title track "Two Ribbons” which is a slow, melancholic moment of quiet that deviates from their almost industrial dancefloor fillers. The single contains reflections from Jenny on how the pair are still bound together through their compassion for each other, tight as ever, although slightly frayed and world-worn. “Hall Of Mirrors” is an ethereal, glistening pop song about a beautiful, intense moment remembered.

"Santana (III)" is Santana's third studio album and was released in September 1971. It is often referred to simply as "III" or as "Man with An Outstretched Hand". The third and last album by the same members who played at Woodstock, it has been considered by many to be the band's peak, musically. The album was the last Santana album to reach #1 on the charts until Supernatural in 1999. This original Japanese release becomes available as SA-CD Multi Hybrid edition for the first time in the world. The SACD layer uses a DSD master converted from the original "Quadraphonic (4ch)" master. The CD layer uses 2ch mix master from SACD (latest remastering). Features a 7-inch mini LP cover artwork.

USA Fellow and five-time Grammy-winning trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies - past and present. With his band The E-Collective he addresses the staggering cyclical epidemic of gun violence in America with his new album "Live" - 7 powerful songs recorded in concert that both reflect the bitter frustration of the conscious masses while also providing a balm of emotional healing. With a title that carries a pointed double meaning, the album is an impassioned continuation of the band’s GRAMMY-nominated 2015 studio recording, "Breathless".