Hans Zimmerobstetrics

Novelist Sian Anderson travels to the solitude Greek island Monemvasia from her Los Angeles home to write her newest mystery book; she is also advised that a strong and massive wind will occur throughout the night and is recommended to stay indoors while the wind blows from the sea. While writing her novel, she witnesses the local handyman, Phil, murder her landlord, Elias Appleby, and soon comes under attack from the crazed psychopath while the deadly wind continues to occur throughout the night.

This album presents a glimpse of Paul von Klenau’s vast collection of music created during the Second World War when he produced works, almost obsessively, until his passing in 1946. The album includes world premiere recordings of Klenau’s Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto and Symphony No. 8, showcasing his mastery of both tonal and atonal sonorities, his distinctive introspective style, and his exceptional talent for venturing into uncharted musical realms.

Under the baton of the new chief conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann, the RIAS Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin are performing famous Motets by Johann Sebastian Bach, interspersed with some fine instrumental works of the composer. Founded in 1948, the choir enjoys today a worldwide reputation as one of the best ensembles of its kind.

The early musical experiences of Puccini and Verdi, those two giants of Italian opera, were in fact gained in the field of sacred music. In 1880, at the age of 22, Puccini composed his Messa a 4 voci as a graduation exercise. When still a schoolboy, the 45-year older Verdi stood in for the organist in his home village; at the end of this life, he returned to church music, writing his Quattro pezzi sacri in the 1890s at the age of over 80. The Messa of the younger composer – which was believed lost until 1952 – is a joyful and scintillating work. Artistically, Verdi’s powerful and intense Pezzi sacri can be placed on an equal standing with his beloved operas.

Warner Bros. and Legendary’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science-fiction epic Dune will get two scores from Hans Zimmer thanks to the film’s behind-the-scenes companion book. The soundtrack marks the first time the celebrated composer — who has worked on more than a hundred film scores — has written original music for a book.

Parsifal (WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance Parzival of the Minnesänger Wolfram von Eschenbach and the Old French chivalric romance Perceval ou le Conte du Graal by the 12th-century trouvère Chrétien de Troyes, recounting different accounts of the story of the Arthurian knight Parzival (Percival) and his spiritual quest for the Holy Grail.

The re-release of Hans Koller's 1966 Relax With My Horns (MPS, Germany) shows a master at the top of his game. For the listeners, the disc is composed, arranged and produced with a sense of cheekiness… Trio of jazz musicians, with overdubbing of up to four saxophones on the session. The sum is a tidy little package of swing, blues and multi-tracked sax that echoes the iconic group Supersax.

Hans-Christoph Rademann is one of Germany's leading choral conductors, specializing in early music and, in particular, the rich musical culture of Baroque-era Saxony. He is the conductor of the Dresdner Kammerchor, which he founded while still a student, and director of the Internationale Bachakademie in Stuttgart. Rademann was born in Dresden, in what was then East Germany, on August 5, 1965, but grew up an hour away in Schwarzenberg near the German-Czech border, where his father was a church musician.

The combination of the sheer artistry of one of Europe's finest purveyors of American roots music with the deep soul bluesy soulfulness of Terry Evans is a match made in blues heaven. Visions will delight even the most discerning hi-fi fan with a fantastic sonic experience. Guests includes: Richard Thompson and Bo Diddley. This album have been nominated for the Blues Music Awards 2009.

This live recording of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" was made at the Southbank Centre's 2013 The Rest Is Noise Festival in London, a concert series celebrating critic Alex Ross' book "The Rest Is Noise". Always a crowd-pleaser, Orff's secular cantata is full of rhythmic choruses, rollicking dances, and incantatory songs based on medieval texts, and it has become one of the most popular modern works in the choral repertoire. The performance by the London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, conducted by Hans Graf, is energetic and vivid, and the solos by soprano Sarah Tynan, tenor Andrew Kennedy, and baritone Rodion Pogossov are full of life and feeling.