Mark Fischer

It is one of the tragic losses of music history that not a single note of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Mark Passion is of certain transmission. Attempts to reconstruct it have usually not advanced beyond the halfway point, but Andreas Fischer has now carried this task through to completion. This version of the St. Mark Passion consists exclusively of music by Bach - which is perhaps why it creates an especially authentic impression in this performance with his St. Catharinen - Cantorey of Hamburg.

This 2012 recording of the most influential and wide spread oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach features the Hungarian conductor Iván Fischer, a visionary in his field, with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. The double choir is the essential musical aspect on which Iván Fischer’s interpretation of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion is based. Only by consistently seizing on that duality will all the complementary layers stand out as they should. He describes this essential fundamental aspect as follows: “You can’t do the St. Matthew in an unreligious way. The only approach is from a deep, universally religious feeling.

Robert Schumann wrote some of the greatest works ever written for piano, four hands. Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes turn in beautiful performances of this great music.

Beethoven’s five sonatas for violoncello and piano form a cosmos all of their own. They exemplarily represent this Titan’s three compositional periods, and the interrelations between them shape a surprisingly self-contained work group surveying the composer’s entire life. Reason enough for Manuel Fischer-Dieskau and Connie Shih to present an absolutely new recording of this cycle – now for the first time on SACD in original 2+2+2 surround sound!

Andreas Staier’s informed and inspired interpretations have left their mark on the discography of both the harpsichord and the fortepiano and have enabled us to see Bach, Mozart and Schubert in a completely new light. This is Staier’s first solo album of a projected series for Alpha Classics, in which he also presents his own compositions for the first time.

Moana: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2016 Disney animated film Moana. The soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on November 19, 2016. It features songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa'i, with lyrics in English, Samoan, Tokelauan language and 'An Innocent Warrior' with lyrics in Tuvalu. The two-disc deluxe edition includes the score, which was composed by Mancina, as well as demos, outtakes and instrumental karaoke tracks. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 16 and peaked at number 2, kept off the top spot by The Weeknd's Starboy. "How Far I'll Go" was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Academy Award for Best Original Song.