Opera 2023

Scott Robert Shaw’s debut “The English Tenor” takes us on a beautifully performed journey through a who’s who of great English composers and their vocal works. The names Ivor Gurney, Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gerald Finzi and Roger Quilter are synonymous with English Song, and a Golden Age of British music. The wide variety of accompanying instruments and artists, the broad range of text settings and the mix of cornerstone works of the repertoire alongside lesser-known cycles make “The English Tenor” a thrilling debut album.

This legendary album is finally made available to digital partners, as part of Warner's Otto Klemperer retrospective!

Jean-Marie Leclair's Scylla et Glaucus (Tragédie en un prologue et cinq actes, Paris, 1746) provides an excellent opportunity for György Vashegyi, a luxury cast and music scholars at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles to revisit the French Baroque operatic canon and emerge with a fresh new take on this established work, the violin virtuoso and composer's single offering for the Paris Opéra.

Supplementary to his legendary Beethoven cycles for Decca are Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt’s recordings for Philips, Mercury, Deutsche Grammophon and Accord.

Continuing his extraordinary SACD series of Richard Wagner's music dramas for PentaTone, Marek Janowski presents Tannhäuser in the original Dresden version, with a dynamic cast, choir, and orchestra that give the performance their all.

The DECCA label is expanding the extensive discography of Donizetti's probably most popular opera with a recording with Zuzana Marková and Andrea Bocelli in the leading roles.

Tommy Emmanuel played two spellbinding shows on the Concert Hall stage in May 2023, with the best of both performances represented here. There is something truly magical about the Sydney Opera House, and the magic of his sold-out performances there has finally been captured on this new album.

The Rite of Spring is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky with stage designs and costumes by Nicholas Roerich. When first performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29 May 1913, the avant-garde nature of the music and choreography caused a sensation. Many have called the first-night reaction a "riot" or "near-riot", though this wording did not come about until reviews of later performances in 1924, over a decade later. Although designed as a work for the stage, with specific passages accompanying characters and action, the music achieved equal if not greater recognition as a concert piece and is widely considered to be one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century.

Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 1879 – 8 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras.