Label: Warner

Leif Ove Andsnes is Norway's foremost pianist. His repertoire is large; with the music of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg as a touchstone, it has been centered on the core Romantic piano repertory but has extended back to Mozart and forward into the 20th century. A world favorite among buyers of recordings, he has issued a large catalog of albums on the Virgin Classics, EMI, Warner Classics, and Sony Classical labels, among others. Andsnes was born in the small city of Karmøy, in southwestern Norway, on April 7, 1970.

In their first Warner Classics release of symphonic repertoire, the players of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and their Chief Conductor Michael Sanderling perform the four Brahms Symphonies and Schoenberg’s orchestration of Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor. Founded in 1805, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra (Luzerner Sinfonieorchester) is Switzerland’s oldest orchestra. As Sanderling points out, Brahms made two visits to Lucerne. “The location of Switzerland’s central city, creates a link with Brahms,” says Sanderling. “Its proximity to the mountains, its position on beautiful Lake Lucerne … I can hear that in Brahms’ symphonic music. I can hear his love for nature … the purity of the air. And in his Symphony No 1, I think we can all hear the sound of the alphorn, which Brahms heard for the first time in Switzerland and which inspired the gorgeous theme [of the symphony’s fourth movement].” Sanderling feels that, more than 200 years into its existence, new vistas –especially in the symphonic repertoire of late Romanticism – are opening up for the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. He and the players are looking forward to further voyages of discovery.

“Everything works to illuminate the music," wrote The Times of Love and Death, Martin James Bartlett’s debut recital on Warner Classics. The young British pianist has now recorded two celebrated rhapsodies for piano and orchestra, both from the ‘art deco’ period of the 20th century: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. His partners are the London Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Joshua Weilerstein. The album is completed by seven shorter Gershwin and Rachmaninoff pieces for solo piano – as written by the composers themselves or as arranged by the American virtuoso Earl Wild.

Digitally remastered two CD set containing a pair of albums plus bonus tracks. British-born Blues singer John Baldry, or Long John Balrdy as he was sometimes called, released two popular albums in the early 1970s on Warner Bros. Records. It Ain't Easy reached # 83 on the Billboard charts in 1971. Everything Stops for Tea hit the Billboard charts in 1972. Both albums were produced by Rod Stewart and Elton John. This set also includes 10 bonus tracks not on the original albums. Musicians on these albums include Ron Wood, Maggie Bell, Elton John, Dave Glover, Doris Troy, Klaus Voorman, Nigel Olssen and Rod Stewart.

Deeply soothing choral music and plainsong, selected from throughout the Warner Classics and Erato catalogues. Carefully chosen to bring peace and warmth to even the deepest mid-winter night, this is the Christmas compilation that leaves the obvious behind, and instead explores a world of festive stillness and serenity.It features Charles Ives, Herbert Howells, Claudio Monteverdi, Nicholas Martin etc.

Warner Music Presents 100 Classiques des annes 70 album original hits and the original artists genre 70s, Pop, Disco, Rock, Reggae, Jazz, Blues.

A glance to the Mozart recordings by star violinist Daniel Hope. He only recorded two works for Warner Classics but with such brio! His rendition of the twenty-seventh violin sonata, perhaps the most beautiful of the cycle with its moving set of variations, is a must-hear. Hope is accompanied by Sebastian Knauer, who also features on the rare double concerto for violin and piano conducted by Sir Roger Norrington.

"Astounding … with a high register of a soprano's purity," was how the British opera magazine Opera described the young Brazilian soprano Bruno de Sá. The voice of the "Best Young Artist" (Opera! Awards 2020) is almost unique worldwide: unlike countertenors, de Sá does not achieve the high notes through falsetto technique; they are the soprano's natural vocal register. With his full and richly colored sound, he thus comes close to how castrato stars like Farinelli may once have sounded. Bruno de Sá now dedicates his debut album Roma Travestita, released by Erato, to the repertoire of those first vocal virtuosos.