Saint Saens Carnival

Camille Saint-Saëns was involved in every aspect of French music during his long lifetime, and his frequent travels led to a fascinating mixture of Western music with Moorish and African elements in works such as Orient et Occident and the Suite algérienne.

Warner Classics is pleased to release the 11th annual 3CD set of highlights from the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, “the delightful festival where youth meets experience and both benefit” (Gramophone). The Times described Argerich’s Lugano Festival as “community music-making on a deluxe scale, with performers and listeners mutually uplifted by music’s wonders”. In addition to Argerich, the performers in 2013 included many familiar names from previous Live from Lugano releases. Among the performers who took part in the series for the first time are the violinist and Queen Elisabeth Competition winner Andrey Baranov and the pianists Thomás Alegre, Alessandro Mazzamuto, Maria Meerovitch.

For "Carnival Fantasy", the four exceptional musicians have taken their successful stage program into the studio. Like no other chamber music group, these four ladies from Germany have inspired fans around the world for the past 13 years with virtuoso playfulness, charm and humour that transcend the boundaries of genre and ventures off the beaten path of traditional classical music. 'Carnival Fantasy' is a firework of transformation, a playground for boundless joy and a celebration of unique, surprising arrangements - a trademark of the quartet.

Carnival of the Animals" (Le Carnaval des animaux) is a humorous musical suite by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.

Orchid Classics presents an album of encores for cello and piano performed by the outstanding South Korean cellist Hee-Young Lim and pianist Chuhui Liang. Praised by The Washington Post as ‘a deeply gifted musician’ with ‘an exceptional sense of lyricism’ and ‘near-flawless technique’, Hee-Young Lim has quickly established herself as one of the most charismatic, captivating and rapidly rising stars of the younger generation.

Cocomi selected ten classical masterpieces that she loves for her debut album de l’amour, including Massenet’s ‘Méditation’ from Thaïs, Fauré’s ‘Sicilienne’ and Gounod’s ‘Ave Maria’, which were arranged by Japanese film composer Takatsugu Muramatsu.

The cello’s rich, singing tones are a perfect match for the passionate eloquence of the Romantic era. In the masterful hands of David Berlin, Principal Cellist of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, partnered by internationally acclaimed pianist Benjamin Martin, the cello reveals its sublime range of colours and timbres.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott create a unique classical music experience with their new Sony Classical recording "Songs from the Arc". This all-new recording also celebrates thirty years of friendship and collaboration in concerts and recordings for Ma and Stott. The album includes pieces they have frequently performed but never recorded, as well as a handful of discoveries.

The music on this EP inhabits a particular corner of the bounteous repertory of characteristic pieces for violin and piano. Short without being slight, these miniatures are vibrant and emotive, getting to the heart of the matter with freshness and originality, and sharing a rich yet restrained harmonic language which is identifiably English in character.

Since winning two prizes at the ARD International Music Competition in 2005, Serbian sisters Sanja and Lidija Bizjak have achieved worldwide praise for their solo piano and piano duo performances alike: “brilliant sound, precise fingerwork, and excellent listening skills” – The Independent. For their debut recording on Onyx, they have created a superb programme consisting of two concertos for two pianos and orchestra by Poulenc and Martinu to frame compositions for two pianos alone: Stravinsky’s 'Sonata' and Shostakovich’s rarely heard 'Concertino'. The sisters have appeared at the BBC Proms to great acclaim in Saint-Saens’ 'Carnival of the Animals‘.