Elżbieta Sikora Concertos

Polish Radio Experimental Studio at Warszawa was founded in October 1957 by Jozef Patkowski who conducted the Studio till 1985. More then 200 autonomous compositions produced. Several hundreds titles for film, theatre, TV, radio and various exhibi¬tions came out from the Studio.

Does music need parity? Probably not, it defends itself. But it is worth noting and emphasising the artistic advantages of outstanding contemporary composers and their unforgettable predecessors - women in Polish music are a voice as separate as it is expressive. The album is the result of cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and more specifically the Polskie Heroiny Dźwięku (Polish Heroines of Sound) program conducted by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the wider Polska Music campaign. It aims to create and popularise a new canon of works by Polish composers. In this case, they are “Sonosphère V. Wanda Landowska” by Elżbieta Sikora, “Aisthetikos” by Hanna Kulenty, “In the Shade of an Unshed Tear” by Agata Zubel and “Contradizione”, a classic by Grażyna Bacewicz.

A significant composer of the Mendelssohn line is Arnold Mendelssohn (1855–1933), great-nephew of Felix. He was born in the Silesian town of Ratibor (now Racibórz, Poland) on December 26, 1855. Arnold Mendelssohn's piano works are modest in number and all of them are recorded here. The compilation begins with the 'pen-and-ink drawings' published in 1901 by Dreililien (Berlin) as Five Characteristic Pieces for Piano Solo, Op. 20. Nonetheless, these works are characteristic of Mendelssohn's sustained study and exploration of Classical sonata form, which the composer regarded as the be-all and end-all of instrumental music. (Excerpts from the booklet by Jens Markowsky.) Pianist Elzbieta Sternlicht began her studies at the State Music Academy in Warsaw. After several years of artistic activity in Paris, Sternlicht moved to Berlin in 1977, where she is a freelance musician and a lecturer at the Universität der Künste.

The Grosses Festpielhaus in Salzburg has been the scene of countless memorable musical events - operas, concerts and recitals - for 50 years. Here is a unique chance to celebrate the glories of this distinguished era. In an exceptional collaboration with the Salzburg Festival, we have prepared a 25-CD box set - 5 complete operas, 10 concerts and 2 recitals - featuring many of the world's greatest artists, in recordings with classical status and others that are appearing on CD for the first time.

A generously-filled programme featuring 17 of Vivaldi's 39 Bassoon Concertos in which the distinguished bassoonist Klaus Thunemann is partnered with one of the great baroque music ensembles, I Musici.Vivaldi's 39 bassoon concertos (two are incomplete) are at the cornerstone of the bassoon repertory and in the context of Vivaldi's output constitute the greatest number of concertos for a single solo instrument after his 200+ solo violin concertos.

A 10 CD Box set with 23 Beautiful Mozart Piano Concertos. Alfred Brendel playing piano. Imogen Cooper also on piano. Accompanied by Academy of St. Martin-In-The-Fields orchestra. Conducted by Neville Marriner. This set is wonderful: Brendel is at the peak of his art, the conductor and the Orchestra are perfect, the sound is clear and old fashionable, very recommended.

A generously-filled programme featuring 17 of Vivaldi's 39 Bassoon Concertos in which the distinguished bassoonist Klaus Thunemann is partnered with one of the great baroque music ensembles, I Musici.Vivaldi's 39 bassoon concertos (two are incomplete) are at the cornerstone of the bassoon repertory and in the context of Vivaldi's output constitute the greatest number of concertos for a single solo instrument after his 200+ solo violin concertos.

This four-disc Ondine set collects the complete concertos of Einojuhani Rautavaara. While these 12 works may not make the best argument for the Finnish post-modernist's status as a great composer – his eight symphonies surely make good that claim – they certainly make the best argument for his status as an amazingly effective, astoundingly diverse, and wonderfully individualistic composer. The works themselves are all from Rautavaara's wide-ranging maturity.