Robert Francis

Robert's 7th studio album and his newest effort, "Indian Summer", will be released on November 3rd 2017 on Aeronaut Records. "Indian Summer", recorded over 10 days at Red Star in Silver Lake CA, was produced by Robert and long-time colleague and friend Marc Gabor. The record was tracked and mixed by Shane Smith. For the first time on any of his releases, Robert played every instrument on the album.

Robert Shaw leads the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in these powerful works of Francis Poulenc. Poulenc experienced a spiritual crisis which led to the composition of his powerful Mass in G major, which is dedicated to the memory of his father. Paired with this work are his Four Motets for Christmas, Four Motets for a Time of Penitence, and Four Short Prayers of Saint Frances.

Quartet Records, Paramount Pictures and Universal Music Group present the remastered, expanded release of the iconic score by the great Francis Lai (A Man and A Woman, Life for Life, House of Cards, Dark Eyes, Bilitis) for the unforgettable 1970 romantic classic Love Story, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Ryan O’Neal, Ali McGraw, Ray Milland and John Marley. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and O’Neal and McGraw’s performances, but won only in the Best Original Score category (the only Oscar ever won by the prolific French composer). The choice of Francis Lai was a personal obsession of producer Robert Evans, who pursued the composer until he accepted, despite Lai initially refusing to compose the score due to other commitments. But Evans’ intuition was spot-on. Today, Lai’s Love Story score remains one of the most memorable and richly lyrical works in the canon of romantic film scores. The main theme remains one of the most famous melodies in film history, covered countess times—including an especially memorable arrangement by Henry Mancini for RCA.

This seasonal offering from The Choir of Westminster Abbey presents a delightful and unusual selection of music for Christmas. It encompasses many of the diverse themes of Christmas which have inspired composers across the ages: light shining in darkness; the tenderness of mother and child; the fulfilment of promise; and the warm merriment of corporate celebration. An excellent selection of contemporary carols features the composers Jonathan Dove and Bob Chilcott among others. The richness of twentieth-century church music is illustrated in works by Poulenc, Walton, Mathias and Leighton, and by the heartbreakingly lovely piece The little road to Bethlehem by Michael Head. Skilful arrangements of the traditional carols Silent night, In dulci jubilo and I saw three ships, complete this attractive seasonal release.

Faniska is an opéra comique in three acts by Luigi Cherubini. The German libretto, by Joseph Sonnleithner, is based on the melodrama Les mines de Pologne (1803) by René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt.