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All CDs Are Newly Remastered in DSD (Direct Stream Digital) From Original Source Tape & Play on Standard & Super Audio Players

"These Super Audio CDs are far superior to all previous CD versions in every conceivable way..." -- The Absolute Sound

Five new releases featuring legendary performances by Julian Bream, Jascha Heifetz, Charles Munch, Gregor Piatigorsky, Leontyne Price and Fritz Reiner will be added to RCA Red Seal's critically acclaimed Living Stereo Super Audio series, in stores January 23. The most successful reissue series on CD, with over 1 million units sold to date, is also the first reissue series on Hybrid Super Audio CD. All CDs are remastered in DSD (Direct Stream Digital) from original source tape, play on both standard and Super Audio players, and feature updated original cover art and liner notes.

RCA Red Seal's Living Stereo has set the standard for remastering and restoring among the most acclaimed stereo recordings made in analog sound. Each Living Stereo title has been remastered by an engineering team led by the award-winning John Newton, using only three of the available six channels (two when the original recording was two-track stereo) in order to remain faithful to the sonic image created by the original producers. Newton remarks, "Two important technologies come together to allow SACD customers to hear these programs in higher fidelity than the original engineers could listen to. By using the best playback channels and heads on a modern transport we heard material that certainly did not come through the original tube type analog tape recorders. This improvement coupled with the incredible clarity of the DSD process allows today's listener to hear more of what is on these historic tapes." Although DSD remastering has added a fresh luster to the sound, no signal processing has been used to "improve" the original tapes of these performances.

The series has been consistently applauded in the press. "The sheer fun of listening to the latest batch of RCA Living Stereo CDs sets the standard for the most basic criterion for spending money on recordings -- that one will turn to them again and again. They revel in the glorious sounds of inspired performances of greatly rewarding music," the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote. Noting that the new format allows the original Living Stereo recordings at last to be heard as they were created, Ultraradio.com writes, "They are revelations ... Cheers to BMG for mining its vaults in a proper manner."

The new Living Stereo releases include:

SPAIN - The Chicago Symphony Orchestra at its finest, under the impeccable leadership of Fritz Reiner, brings elegance and fire to some of Spain's greatest orchestral music, with Leontyne Price in a volatile performance of El amor brujo. CD includes ALBENIZ Navarra, Iberia; FALLA El amor brujo, Interlude and Dance from La vida breve, Dances from The Three-Cornered Hat GRANADOS Intermezzo from Goyescas. Multi-Channel Super Audio CD plays back on three channels.

HEIFETZ -- DOUBLE CONCERTOS - The incomparable Jascha Heifetz plays three of the greatest "double concertos" -- by Bach, Brahms and Mozart -- in distinguished collaboration with cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, violist William Primrose and violinist Erick Friedman. CD includes BACH Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor; BRAHMS Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor MOZART Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat. With New Symphony Orchestra of London; Sir Malcolm Sargent, conductor; RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra; Alfred Wallenstein, conductor and Izler Solomon, conductor.
Multi-Channel Super Audio CD plays back on two channels (Bach) and three channels.





SCHUBERT Symphony No. 9 "Great"; Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished" - In recordings of inimitable grace and probing depth from conductor Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Schubert's two most beloved symphonies are coupled for the first time in the Living Stereo series on CD. Multi-Channel Super Audio CD plays back on two channels (Symphony No. 8) and three channels.







STRAUSS Don Quixote, Don Juan - Rarely has the music of Richard Strauss been brought to life with the sheer beauty and muscular intensity Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra give it in their sublime recordings of Don Quixote and Don Juan. With Antonio Janigro, cello; Milton Preves, viola; John Weicher, violin.
Multi-Channel Super Audio CD plays back on three channels.







POPULAR CLASSICS FOR SPANISH GUITAR - The mastery of guitarist Julian Bream is perhaps at its best in Spanish music, and this legendary recording -- featuring some of the most popular works ever written for the guitar -- gains a new luster and brilliance in its new DSD remastering. CD includes HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS Chôros No. 1; Etude in E Minor TORROBA Madroños TURINA Homenaje a Tárrega; Garrotín; Soleares VILLA-LOBOS Prelude in E Minor ALBÉNIZ Suite española; Granada; Leyenda FALLA Homenaje "Le tombeau de Claude Debussy" TRADITIONAL Canciones populares catalanas: El testament d'Amelia TURINA Fandanguillo,
Multi-Channel Super Audio CD plays back on two channels.
6 years ago | |
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Celebrating its unparalleled catalogue of classic musical theater recordings, Masterworks Broadway premieres Legends of Broadway -- a new series of CDs highlighting the careers of four of Broadway's greatest stars in their signature roles. All four collections -- Barbara Cook, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters and Chita Rivera.

Between them, these ladies have won nine Tony Awards and have been nominated for the Tony Award an amazing 23 times. Barbara Cook, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters and Chita Rivera all began their fabled careers in the golden age of the modern Broadway musical, in the 1950s and 1960s. The musicals they created or memorably reinterpreted are among the most popular and enduring -- Annie Get Your Gun, Bye Bye Birdie, Candide, Chicago, Follies, Gypsy, Into the Woods, The King and I, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Mame, Show Boat, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, West Side Story and more -- and they are all featured in these collections.

Check out the Legends of Broadway mediaplayer for special preview of this fantastic release.
6 years ago | |
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Jay Greenberg will be on NPR''s Performance Today this Wednesday, November 15, as part of their "Young Musicians" series. For information on station and times please go to http://www.npr.org/programs/pt/about.html




6 years ago | |
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SONY CLASSICAL OFFERS THE ENTIRE
CASINO ROYALE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE
AS AN EXCLUSIVE iTUNES DOWNLOAD,
FEATURING CD CONTENT PLUS 13 BONUS TRACKS - Visit iTunes For This Special Download!

The Most Comprehensive Release Ever Of A James Bond Orchestral Score
Original Music By Four-Time Bond Composer David Arnold

Sony Pictures/MGM Film, Directed by Martin Campbell,
Opens Nationwide November 17th

The James Bond phenomenon gets a new lease of life -- in the form of the new Bond, Daniel Craig -- in director Martin Campbell's Casino Royale, for which composer David Arnold returns with an exciting original score. Exclusively to iTunes, Sony Classical will release Arnold's entire score for Casino Royale -- including the content of the CD release plus 13 additional tracks -- making it the most comprehensive Bond film score recording ever offered. This deluxe edition of the complete score for Casino Royale will be available for download beginning Tuesday, November 14 -- three days prior to the film's nationwide opening on Friday, November 17.

This latest installment of the James Bond film series stars Daniel Craig as "007", the smoothest, sexiest, most lethal agent on Her Majesty's Secret Service in Casino Royale. Based on the first Bond book written by Ian Fleming, the story recounts the making of the world's greatest secret agent.

The film finds Bond face to face with Le Chiffre (played by Mads Mikkelsen), banker to the world's terrorists. In order to stop him, and bring down the terrorist network, Bond must beat Le Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale. At first annoyed by the beautiful British Treasury official Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), who is assigned to deliver his stake for the game and watch over the government's money, Bond soon feels a connection. The attraction becomes mutual as the two survive a series of lethal attacks by Le Chiffre, leading them into further danger and events that will shape Bond's life forever.

Reinforcing the highly charged, action packed plot of the movie is the original music from David Arnold, the award-winning composer and arranger who previously scored three Bond adventures -- Die Another Day, The World is Not Enough and Tomorrow Never Dies. Selected by long-time James Bond composer John Barry as his successor in the Bond soundtracks franchise, Arnold made his debut with Tomorrow Never Dies, the second James Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan. This score garnered high praise across the board, solidifying his stint as the current Bond composer.

Arnold's ties with Bond run deep. He was seven years old when he realized he wanted to compose music for film. It was at the Luton British Legionnaire club that Arnold saw his first James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice, which the composer says "tainted him for life" and was the "substantial event for him that just got him hooked."

In 1996, Arnold worked on a tribute "cover" album of his favorite James Bond themes, entitled "Shaken and Stirred." Collaborating with a diverse range of acts that included Martin Fry, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Propellerheads and Iggy Pop, Arnold blended contemporary pop with orchestral sounds to create a successful album. One of the album's tracks -- "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" -- broke out as a successful dance hit, and two were others released as chart singles. Arnold sent his work to MGM and got a response that changed his life. The studio was so impressed that they offered him the opportunity to score Tomorrow Never Dies, his first foray into the Bond franchise. By this time, Arnold's career in film music was flourishing, and he was in demand with both film studios and television companies to create original themes and scores.

Arnold's other film scores include The Stepford Wives, Enough, Changing Lanes, Zoolander, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Stargate.

Directed by Martin Campbell. Screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis. Based on the novel by Ian Fleming. Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Executive Producers Anthony Waye Callum McDougall. Starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen with Jeffrey Wright and Judi Dench.

6 years ago | |
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Check out the newly redesigned Emanuel Ax site at http://www.emanuelax.com.  It features a full discography, tour dates and a blog from Manny himself.
6 years ago | |
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The 5 Browns have all of their videos featured on Sony's Music Box Video Player.

You can view the Firebird, Rhapsody in Blue, and Simple Gifts from their recent release, "No Boundaries" .

Check out their website and view the video player here.
6 years ago | |
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In his first live recording, guitarist John Williams teams up with a guitar virtuoso from the jazz world -- England's John Etheridge -- for a fresh take on the infinite variety of world music on Sony Classical's JOHN WILLIAMS & JOHN ETHERIDGE: LIVE IN DUBLIN. The recording captures the entire set featuring Williams (playing a custom-made classical guitar) and Etheridge (playing a steel string instrument), recorded live on July 8, 2006, at the Dublin Guitar Festival in Ireland. JOHN WILLIAMS & JOHN ETHERIDGE: LIVE IN DUBLIN is available now in stores.


You can purchase this item at the Sony Music Store.











Fright Night is available via iTunes

Create the perfect, spine-tingling atmosphere for your Halloween celebration with Sony BMG Masterworks' Fright Night -- Music That Goes Bump in the Night, a chilling new collection that features almost three hours of classical hits to shock and awe your friends on the spookiest night of the year. Fright Night -- Music That Goes Bump in the Night is now available at all digital retailers.

The exclusive iTunes version includes a digital booklet featuring everything you need for a spook-tacular Halloween party -- chilling music, cut-out masks, stencils, recipes and more.

Drawing on Masterworks' unparalleled catalogue of recordings, Fright Night -- Music That Goes Bump in the Night includes all the "scary" classics that have been underscoring horror movies and frightening images for years -- Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre, Gounod's "Funeral March of the Marionette" and Liszt's Mephisto Waltz. Also included are memorable themes from such films as Psycho, The Bride of Frankenstein, Vertigo and Jaws, and ear-bending blockbusters by Stravinsky, Ives and Varèse, among many others.



Chorus Line is Hot!


Sparkling reviews are coming in far and wide for A Chorus Line which is playing on Broadway this season. To preview the music, check out the E-Card and for additional info go to their website.



The New Cast Recording of A Chorus Line is available via iTunes and the Sony Music Store
6 years ago | |
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Follow-up To Best-selling Romance Of The Violin
Features Sensuous, Unforgettable Melodies From Opera And Song
With Soprano Anna Netrebko As Bell's Special Guest

From the world of opera and song, Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell has chosen some of the most popular and enduring melodies ever written for his latest Sony Classical recording Voice of the Violin. Following the success of his best-selling Romance of the Violin -- which has been a fixture on the Billboard Classical charts for over two years -- this all-new collection presents Bell and his Stradivarius giving fresh "voice" to works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Bizet, Dvořák, Donizetti, Massenet and more, accompanied by Orchestra of St. Luke's, conducted by Michael Stern. Opera's hottest new star, soprano Anna Netrebko, joins the violinist for a performance of the Richard Strauss song "Morgen." Voice of the Violin will be released worldwide on September 5, 2006.

Bell's inspiration for Romance of the Violin -- one of the greatest successes in Bell's recording career -- was the opportunity to play beautiful classical melodies that violinists never get to perform. Voice of the Violin goes a step further, sampling the most memorable arias from opera and oratorio, as well as the classical song literature, for melodies that the violin -- in Bell's case, the legendary 1713 "Gibson ex Huberman" Stradivarius -- can "sing" most beautifully.

The selections on Voice of the Violin include such favorites as Schubert's "Ave Maria," Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" and Tchaikovsky's "None But the Lonely Heart," as well as beloved arias by Mozart ("Laudate dominum" from Vesperae Solenne di Confessore); Bizet ("Je crois entendre encore" from Les Pecheurs de perles); Donizetti ("Una furtiva lagrima" from L'Elisir d'amore); Dvořák ("Song of the Moon" from Rusalka) and Orff ("In trutina" from Carmina Burana). From the song literature -- in addition to Strauss's Morgen" -- come favorites by Fauré ("Après un rêve"), Debussy ("Beau soir"), Falla ("Nana"), Mendelssohn ("May Breezes" from Songs Without Words) and Ponce ("Estrellita").

A star of the Metropolitan Opera as well as leading opera houses and concert stages all over the world, Netrebko will join Bell in a performance of the soulful Strauss song "Morgen," in the famous orchestral transcription that features a violin solo. Pianist Frederic Chiu, a friend and frequent colleague of Bell's, accompanies the violinist in a performance of Debussy's "Beau soir."

Arrangements for Voice of the Violin were created by J.A.C. Redford, the renowned American composer and orchestrator whose work in film and television has brought him a pair of Emmy nominations and five ASCAP Awards. His film credits include The Trip to Bountiful, Extremities and Oliver and Company. Redford has orchestrated, arranged or conducted for such Oscar-winning film composers as James Horner, Alan Menken and Rachel Portman. Two-time Grammy Award winner Grace Row is producing Voice of the Violin, and the recording is engineered by Charles Harbutt, also a two-time Grammy Award winner.

Bell's most recent recording for Sony Classical is his critically acclaimed Tchaikovsky disc, featuring a live recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. He was also recently heard as soloist on the original soundtrack recordings of Ladies in Lavender and Dreamer: Inspired By A True Story.

Following its original release in the fall of 2003, Romance of the Violin hit No. 1 on Billboard's Traditional Classical chart and stayed there for 12 weeks, remaining in the top 10 for 50 weeks in a row. In December of that year, Romance of the Violin was named No. 1 Classical Album of the Year by Billboard, as Bell was cited as No. 1 Classical Artist of the Year. Early in 2005, the recording became one of the first titles to be released by Sony Classical as a DualDisc, and the pace of its sales made it one of the top-selling recordings of 2005.

A violinist of diverse musical interests and accomplishments, Joshua Bell is an exclusive Sony Classical artist. His critically acclaimed recordings for the label have ranged from core-classical works (concertos by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Sibelius and Goldmark) to new concert works written especially for him by such composers Edgar Meyer and Nicholas Maw, whose Violin Concerto, performed by Bell, captured the Grammy for Best Solo Performance With Orchestra. His imaginative new recordings of music from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and Bernstein's West Side Story have been best sellers, and he served as a soloist, advisor and creative partner in John Corigliano's Oscar-winning score for the hit film The Red Violin.

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6 years ago | |
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Jay Greenberg's debut release, Symphony #5 - Quintet for Strings, will be available in stores and for download on August 15th. To preview this
album click here to view his mediaplayer.

Born in 1991 in New Haven, Connecticut, he began playing the cello when he was three years old, and he later taught himself how to play the piano. His first formal lessons in theory and composition began when he was seven; three years later he enrolled as a scholarship student in both the college and pre-college divisions of New York's Juilliard School of Music. Greenberg's teachers there include Samuel Zyman, Ira Taxin, Samuel Adler, Ernest Baretta, Lance Horn and Kendall Briggs.

"How do you react when you encounter an early compositional gift so extraordinary that you can't even begin to comprehend it?" Samuel Zyman, who has taught music theory to Greenberg, wrote in The Juilliard Journal in 2003. "How do you explain to others a compositional talent so exquisitely developed at such an early age that you can barely believe it yourself? What would you do if you personally met an eight-year-old boy who can compose and fully notate half a movement of a magnificent piano sonata in the style of Beethoven, before your very eyes and without a piano, in less than an hour? How do you let the world know that the same boy, at age 10, composed a probing, original viola concerto in three movements, fully orchestrated, in just a few weeks?"

The public first heard Greenberg's remarkable story in a 60 Minutes interview in 2004, in which Zyman said that Greenberg's potential puts him in the company of music's most illustrious young prodigies -- Mozart, Mendelssohn and Saint-Saëns. Greenberg's works already have been played by orchestras across the United States including the Pittsburgh and New Haven Symphony Orchestras. A premiere performance of the String Quintet at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC is being planned for later this year.

His Overture to 9/11 received first prize in the composition competition at the Juilliard pre-college division in 2003, and he won ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composers awards in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Among Greenberg's most recent commissions are Short Stories for Tenor Saxophone, Percussion and Orchestra, performed at Alice Tully Hall by the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York, and Hexalogue for Winds and Piano, premiered at the Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival.
6 years ago | |
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 You can download Maria Friedman's new release, "Now and Then", on iTunes!

7 years ago | |
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