Yannick Nézet Séguin The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra Collection 6cds

Lahav Shani and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra bring a superb recording of Bruckner's 5th Symphony.

For his first album with Warner Classics, Lahav Shani conducts the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in Symphony No. 7 and plays Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4: two pieces which come from Beethoven’s so-called “middle period”. The classical harmonic tension contributes to the drive of the music as much as the rhythmic propulsion. This music features a clarity of texture and, above all, a unity between the melodic motive and the accompaniment. Acclaimed for his “instant chemistry” with the orchestra, Lahav Shani is considered the shooting star amongst conductors – as Der Tagesspiegel puts it: “The young maestro is simply sensational”.

The dynamic young French-Canadian conductor records the symphony that has played a central role in his remarkable career.brbrYannick Nezet-Seguin first heard it live in Montreal at the age of eight. It was the work he chose for his debut with both the Orchestre Meetropolitain du Grand Montreeal and the Philadelphia Orchestra.brbrConducting this quintessentially Russian music with the Rotterdam Philharmonic acknowledges his predecessor on the podium, Valery Gergiev, as well as showcasing the depth and refinement of the Dutch orchestras rich textures.brbrYannick Nezet-Seguin admires Tchaikovsky not just as a composer of heart-breaking melodies but also as a master symphonist.

A glance at the Wikipedia entry for the 24-year-old clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer makes you rub your eyes. He has attained a remarkable curriculum vitae, beginning with his appointment as principal clarinetist of the Berlin Phil. and his acceptance at Harvard. His father and older brother are both principal clarinetists with the Vienna Phil. (the family is from upper Austria). Why should such a fantastic tale stop there? Andreas has also won competition first prizes on cello and piano, and he is the first clarinetist to be signed as an exclusive DG artist. One wonders if he glows in the dark.

Maurice Ravel was commissioned to write a score based on the ancient Greek story of Daphnis and Chloe in 1909 by the ballet impresario Serge Diaghilev. He decided to compose 'a huge musical fresco, concerned less with archaism than with faithfulness to the Greece of my dreams'. Daphnis et Chloé, which Stravinsky later described as 'not only Ravel’s best work, but one of the most beautiful products of all French music', is here performed by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a team with the best possible credentials for realizing the full spectrum of this sumptuous music – from the idyllic evocation of dawn in Lever du jour to the orgiastic Danse générale which closes the work. If Daphnis et Chloé is one of Ravel’s most highly regarded works, his Pavane pour une infante défunte is one of the most popular. The brief piano piece from 1899 was orchestrated by the composer in 1910, while he was working on Daphnis. Its profound melancholy has caught the imagination of listeners ever since.

Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir in a luminous, expansive performance of Brahms' German Requiem recorded live in 2009, during Nézet-Séguin's first season as the orchestra's principal guest conductor. The conductor's conception is notable for creating a sense of breadth and serenity while maintaining a purposefulness and momentum that never allow the long lines to sag; it's a beautifully executed balancing act that allows the work to unfold with the spaciousness and grandeur it needs to make its maximum impact.

For his third album on Mercury Classics/Deutsche Grammophon, international chart-topping classical guitarist Miloš Karadaglić takes the world-famous Concierto de Aranjuez as the starting point for a journey across the Spanish landscape, paying tribute to the great composers and musicians who placed the modern classical guitar firmly on the international stage.