Two CD set containing 40 timeless love songs.

This 2 CD set is a collection of classic upbeat love songs across a spectrum of musical genres including MOTOWN, SOUL, SWING, R'N'B, POP & SMOOTH JAZZ.

Newly remastered & on CD for the first time. Stars CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER & written by MICHAEL J LEWIS & ANTHONY BURGESS.

•  Special UK Edition based on the original CD Bryn + Bonus CD with a variety of additional material
•  packaging: brilliant box with Slipcase; booklet with colour photos and tracklisting and liner notes in English only

TRACKLISTING
[01] GEORGES BIZET: Carmen (Escamillo): "Votre toast - Toréador en garde!" (Toreador song)
[02] AMERICAN TRADITIONAL: "Shenandoah"
[03] AMERICAN TRADITIONAL/WILL HOPKYN: "Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn"
[04] GEORGES BIZET: Les Pêcheurs des perles (Nadir, Zurga): "C'était le soir - Au fond du temple saint"
[05] HOWARD GOODALL: "The Lord is my shepherd"
[06] TRADITIONAL: "Danny Boy". (Traditional) Irish tune from County Derry
[07] PEGGY LEE/SONNY BURKE: The Lady and the tramp: "Bella notte"
[08] ANTONÍN DVORAK: "Goin Home" (Largo from Dvorak's 9th Symphony)
[09] TRADITIONAL: "Swing low, sweet chariot"
[10] SIR HENRY ROWLEY BISHOP: "Home Sweet Home"
[11] FRANZ SCHUBERT: "Ave Maria" (Ellen's song III)
[12] JAMES HORNER: Titanic: "Il mio cuore va"
[13] AARON COPLAND: Lowry: "At the River", from "Old American Songs"
[14] PETER TCHAIKOVSKY: "None but the lonely heart"
[15] ALMA BAZEL ANDROZZO: "If I can help somebody"
[16] JOHANNES BRAHMS: Wiegenlied
[17] WILL HENRY MONK: "Abide with Me"
[18] HOAGY CARMICHAEL: "Lazybones"

Arrangements: Chris Hazell; Steven Mercurio (7); Aaron Copland (13); Martin Taylor (18)

CD 2 (Bonus CD album enhanced)
[01] The Impossible Dream
[02] Plaisir d'amour
[03] Granada
[04] God Bless the Child (featuring Martin Taylor on guitar)
[05] Amazing Grace (from "Songs of Praise", featuring Martin Taylor on guitar)
[06] Tua Bethlehem Dref
[07] O Come All Ye Faithful
[08] Video of "Shenandoah"

LOCAL RELEASE: MAY 2005

ARTISTS
Giuliano Carmignola, violin
Venice Baroque Orchestra
Andrea Marcon

• While there are some talented baroque violinists around, Carmignola is certainly the one who stands out . His performances have taken audiences in the US and all over Europe by storm , leading to ecstatic reviews hailing both his musical artistry and his impressive stage appearance
• For his Archiv debut, Carmignola has chosen a set of violin concertos by the three foremost Italian violin composers of the Baroque era , Vivaldi, Locatelli and Tartini
• All three were legendary virtuosos of their time - and it is Giuliano Carmignola who brings back this golden age of Italian violin virtuosity with performances as emotionally inspired as they are technically dazzling
• Supported by long-term musical partners Andrea Marcon and his sensational Venice Baroque Orchestra , Carmignola gets all the freedom a soloist could ever wish for
• Fresh, lively, straightforward and full of energy and emotional power - this is Baroque music at its best!

LOCAL RELEASE: MAY 2005

ARTISTS
MIKHAIL PLETNEV, piano

TRACKLISTING
TCHAIKOVSKY: 18 Pieces for piano, op. 72
CHOPIN: Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor, op. posth.

• Mikhail Pletnev is known for his dedication to the Russian repertoire . Given the general lack of appreciation of Tchaikovsky's piano music, the fact that a musician of Pletnev's stature takes it seriously is significant
• This CD is a live recording containing the rarely-played 18 pieces for solo piano op. 72 of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and as an encore Chopin's beautifully melancholic Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor
• Tchaikovsky wrote these 18 pieces - music of rich personality, charm and soul - in the last year of his life. Each piece carries a dedication, and each has more than a touch of Tchaikovsky's genius - a characteristic turn of phrase or modulation, and an expressive charge
• From the opening Impromptu to the Cossack dance of the final piece, Mikhail Pletnev revels in the beauty and brilliance of these pieces

ARTISTS
Musica Antiqua Köln on authentic instruments
Reinhard Goebel

Reinhard Goebel and his Musica Antiqua Köln with an exceptionally attractive CD continuing their critically acclaimed series of Telemann recordings. Reinhard Goebel has established himself as one of the pioneers and foremost interpreters of Telemann's works - his commitment has been honoured with the internationally renowned Magdeburg Telemann Award, among others. Within Telemann's vast output, the Quartets for recorder and strings are especially highly regarded, representing his most original contribution to chamber music and belonging to the earliest surviving German flute repertoire. Joining forces with young Swiss recorder virtuoso Marcus Steger, Musica Antiqua Köln and Goebel show once again how vivid and sparkling Baroque music can sound if approached with stylistic flair and played with an irresistible joy.

TRACKLISTING
1-De tardecita
2-La que murio en Paris
3-Tabernero
4-Ay, de mi
5-Cantando
6-Acquaforte
7-Alla en el bajo
8-Por un cariño
9-Margarita
10-Los cosos de al lao
11-Nuestra cita
12-Organito
13-Pa Dumesnil
14-Se va la vida
15-Serenata del 900

• As you will surely agree after listening to his album for the first time, it is fact that you either like Cristóbal Repetto's voice or you don't. Repetto sings like Repetto, and nobody sounds like him. According to the Uruguayan press, "Cristóbal Repetto swallowed a gramophone".
• No tango début in recent years has been as intriguing and as magical as Cristóbal Repetto by Cristóbal Repetto.
• Born in 1979 on July 9 (national holiday and the name of Buenos Aires' greatest avenue, which is the world's widest and often mentioned in tango), Repetto grew up surrounded by musicians, peñas (places where tango and folklore are played) and town festivities where he quickly found a way to get on stage and show his early vocal abilities.
• Repetto in his own words: "The emotion I feel when I see rock kids appreciate tango, or tango old-timers appreciating what I do, is indescribable. That's the most amazing thing. True, I'm the singer, it is my voice... but it's also about the songs, which go beyond tango and anybody can appreciate, despite its dark elements. In that sense, I agree with Adriana Varela: tango is the ultimate heavy metal.''
• His self-titled album consists of tangos composed and first recorded in the 1920s to the 1960s. Repetto on his musical roots and influences: "Listening and listening: that's what my life has been all about so far. I grew up listening to music of every genre. From an early age, I was shown a vast musical landscape by my parents, popular music of Argentine and of the world. In my family's large record collection, there were albums by Mercedes Sosa,Tita Merello, Jorge Cafrune, Violeta Parra and Yupanqui. Later on, León Gieco, Fito and Spinetta arrived and, with them, my first songs. Then came the candombes, Caetano and my first bands. And eventually Corsini, Magaldi, the songstresses and "Polaco" Goyeneche. Today it continues to be the music that gets me going."
• Their CDs being released simultaneously, take this opportunity to spread the word about these two exceptional tango artists Cristóbal Repetto and Adriana Varela.

TRACKLISTING
[1] Asi se baila el Tango
[2] Pompas de jabón
[3] Corrientes y Esmeralda
[4] Los cosos de al lao
[5] Fruta amarga
[6] Mi noche triste
[7] Las cuarenta
[8] El milagro
[9] Cristal
[10] Yuyo verde
[11] Absurdo
[12] Siga el corso
[13] Duelo criollo
[14] Como dos extraños

• Adriana Varela has been the number one tango diva since she was discovered by tango legend Goyeneche in Buenos Aire's Café Homero. Her career has matured year by year through a constant search for the Argentinean cultural identity.
• She has performed in Buenos Aires with Jaime Roos before a crowd of 50.000 and as chosen by Quincy Jones to represent Argentina at the legendary Concerts of the Americas , where she shared the the stage with Liza Minelli, Paul Anka, Celia Cruz and Arturo Sandoval, under the direction of the God of Groove: Lalo Schifrin.
• She has also performed in London, Paris and Rome. With her debut album (and first internationally distributed) on edge, Más Tango , Adriana is about to reach out to an international audience. She has a riveting stage presence and a voice that exudes drama and experience - as well as cigarettes and whisky.
• She sings the way she speaks: straight to the point, with equal doses of sweetness and refirmness, her voice sounding like the streets, and her intellect and heart feeling every word, every melody, bringing the spirit of the Sur to everybody who listens to her music.

ARTISTS
BADI ASSAD, vocals, guitar, percussion, kalimba
featuring Naná Vasconcelos, Cordel do fogo encantado, Toquinho and others

TRACKLISTING
[1] Chegei meu povo (Master Walter)
[2] Asa branca (Luiz Ganzaga & Humberto Teixeira)
[3] Básica (Tatiana Cobbett)
[4] Nao adianta (Badi Assad & Jeff Young)
[5] One (U2: Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, David Evans, Paul David Hewson)
[6] Voce nao entendeu nada (Badi Assad)
[7] Viola meu bem (traditional)
[8] O verde é maravilha (Ruy Maurity, José Jorge & Tim Simenon)
[9] Feminina (Badi Assad & Simone Soul)
[10] Bachelorette (Björk Gudmundsdottir & Sigurjon b. Sigurdsson)
[11] Seu delegado (Jorge Bernardo, Juraci de A. Aranha & Raul G. Marques)
[12] Estrangeiro em mim (Badi Assad)
[13] Bom dia tristeza (Adoniran Barbosa & Vinícius de Moraes)
[14] The being between (Badi Assad & Jeff Young)
[15] Valse d'amelie (Yann Thiersen)
[16] Implorando (Toquinho)

bonus track:
[17] In My Little White Top (English version of "Básica", Tatiana Cobbett

• With her first solo album in six years and her début on edge music, Badi is one of the most interesting and unusual of Brazilian guitarists, singers and songwriters of the new generation .
• Most of you will still remember Badi Assad from her successful 1998 album Chameleon which was released on Lee Ritenour's (who was also executive producer) label i.e. Music through Verve. Its single "Waves" spent a considerable number of weeks in the Spanish pop charts.

TRACKLISTING
1. Miserere - Gregorio Allegri (11:53)
2. Agnus Dei - Samuel Barber (8:19)
3. Crucifixus - Antonio Lotti (3:00)
4. The Lamb - John Tavener (3:55)
5. Christe, Admoramus Te - Claudio Monteverdi (2:56)
6. Kyrie - Giovanni Pierluigi Da Palestrina (4:07)
7. If Ye Love Me - Thomas Tallis (1:53)
8. Totus Tuus - Henryk Górecki (8:30)
9. Locus Iste - Anton Bruckner (2:48)
10. When David Heard - Thomas Tomkins (4:40)
11. Iustorum Animae - William Byrd (2:36)
12. Salvator Mundi - Thomas Tallis (2:48)
13. Agnus Dei - William Byrd (3:40)
14. Ave Maria - Josquin Desprez (2:44)
15. Salve Regina - Francis Poulenc (4:13)
16. Libera Nos - John Sheppard (3:18)

Ronan Tynan is poised to take the world by storm with Ronan, his new solo album on Decca! Ronan has become a household name around the world due to the phenomenal success of the "Irish Tenors" . He has decided to take time off from the Irish Tenors over the next year to focus on the offers he has received from the world's of music, film & television. This extraordinary man is an indefatigable character whose physical disabilities only served to spur him on to greater things.

Encouraged to study voice by his father, Ronan won both the John McCormick Cup for Tenor Voice and the BBC talent show Go For It less than one year after beginning to study music. The following year, Ronan won the prestigious International Operatic Singing Competition in Maumarde, France.

Ronan's singing offered the gentlest consolation at the funeral of President Ronald Reagan in the summer of 2004, when an international TV audience of more than 35 million heard him sing "Amazing Grace" and Schubert's "Ave Maria," at the personal invitation of Nancy Reagan.

Collaborating on Ronan with producer Nick Patrick - the man behind the recordings of Russell Watson, Amici Forever and Dominic Miller - Tynan sings powerful hymns of the spirit such as "Amazing Grace" and "How Great Thou Art." With the assistance of his friend Margaret Byrne, he has written the heartfelt "Passing Through" to honour his mother, whose vibrant spirit has been taken away by the long night of Alzheimer's Disease. The recording also includes the bristling title song from the musical Man of La Mancha, the pop classic "From a Distance," a prayerful aria from a beloved Spanish zarzuela ("La roca fria del calvario" from Serrano's La Dolorosa), and a great film theme that has become a song - "Mansions of the Lord" (from We Were Soldiers) - as well as several new songs created especially for the recording. Some of the assorted and well known writers of the original tracks include Richard Marx, Desmond Child, Aldo Nova, Gary Burr and Jeff Cohen. "I want to reach everyone with this album," Tynan says.

TRACKLISTING
1. Man Of La Mancha
2. The Light Inside Of You
3. Ellie
4. How Great Thou Art
5. From A Distance
6. Mansions Of The Lord
7. The Eyes Of Love
8. La Roca Fria Del Calvario
9. Ready To Fly
10. The Old Man
11. Carry Me Home
12. Amazing Grace (Going Home)
13. Come In From The Rain
14. Passing Through

LOCAL RELEASE: JUNE 2005

ABBADO'S BRAHMS: what more could you want? The two charming Serenades restored at last to the DG catalogue, PLUS the bestselling Hungarian Dances with the Vienna Philharmonic in splendid form, otherwise only available at highprice, PLUS brilliant accounts of the Academic Festival Overture and the Tragic Overture - that's over 150 minutes of music! What more do you want?

PINNOCK'S VIVALDI: Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert's 1980s digital recordings of Vivaldi remain a highlight of the Archiv catalogue, offering benchmark interpretations of this ever-popular composer, whose rhythmic energy and plangent lyricisml are unsurpassed.

Here are two complete sets of concertos: the famous Estro armonico concertos of op. 3 and the more congenial flute concertos of op. 10, with Lisa Beznosiuk in sparkling form - all on two CDs for over 150 minutes of music.

Hard to believe but true: this is the first Vivaldi set offered on DG's 2-CD series!

GREAT CELLO CONCERTOS: For the first time we've brought togeher Mischa Maisky's recordings of all the favourite cello concertos, from Haydn to Elgar, rendered in his marvellously romantic style and partnered by great conductors like Bernstein and Sinopoli. 145 minutes of cello bliss!

Also included: two wonderful encores - Dvorak's Silent Woods and Saint-Saens' The Swan.

JÄRVI'S GRIEG: Still the one to go for! "Exceptionally vivid", according to The Penguin Guide: Ibsen's great epic drama, presented with all the original music and spoken dialgoue, bringing it nearer to the original than ever before. PLUS filler Sigurd Jorsalfar, offering "some splendid music", all enhanced by "the warm Gothenburg ambience used to creative effect"

PIANO MUSIC OF THE AMERICAS: This is the one to go for! Attractive, rare repertoire, some of it new to CD, by an accalimed virtuoso of the keyboard, Roberto Szidon, whose Scriabin set, now in TRIO, is generally considered to be the best version available.

It's a musical journey that goes from New York to Brazil and back again to Massachusetts. Jazz up with Gershwin's F major Concerto, revel in the American post-Brahms / pre-Rachmaninov MacDowell, and then plunge into the highly-coloured world of Villa Lobos - befor straighening up for the apocalyptic visions of Charles Ives

The recordings of the Macdowell Concerto, the Villa-Lobos pieces and the Ives Three-page Sonata are all appearing on CD for the first time!

COMPLETE POLONAISES: Maurizio Pollini's Chopin Polonaises are one of the classics of the DG catalogue. Here they are now, completed and supplemented by Martha Argerich (Andante spianato et Grand Polonaise) and Anatol Ugorski, to provide the complete set of Polonaises composed by Chopin, PLUS a selection of fine short pieces that still remain rarities in the catalogue.

Previously available as part of DG's Complete Chopin Edition

KARAJAN'S MOZART takes us back to a time when elegance and charm were at a premium. Here is a splendid "lite" programme that conveys much of the magic that can be found in Mozart. Starting with the familiar Eine kleine Nachtmusik, it takes in three great full-scale Divertimenti (K. 287, 251, 247), and ends with the profound Adagio and Fugue. The strings of the Berlin Philharmonic provide a warm sensuous sound.

Restored to the catalogue: The three Divertimenti K. 136 - 138

SHOSTAKOVICH CHAMBER SYMPHONIES: Requested by the King of Spain, no less, when Maestro Barshai performed these works in a concert in Madrid recently, here are four of the best arrangements of Shostakovich original compositions restored to the catalogue.

PLUS an equally remarkable chamber arrangement of the remarkable and spooky Fifteenth Symphony by Viktor Derevianko played in stylishly virtuosic fashion by Gidon Kremer and friends.

WAGNER OVERTURES AND PRELUDES: Hard to believe, but true: this is the first Wagner set on offer in DG's two-CD series!

And as a deep introduction to his overwhelming music world, there could hardly be a better anthlogy than this. All the famous overtures and preludes are here -Dutchman, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Tristan, Meistersinger, Rienzi, PLUS the Siegfried Idyll and, for good measure, a rousing Ride of the Valkyries and a rare Faust Overture.

Most of the music is in the capable hands of the revered Karl Böhm, master of the Wagnerian tempo, and other "old" masters like Jochum and Kubelik - not forgetting Herbert von Karajan, who takes us on that magnificent Ride!

FRENCH VIOLIN SONATAS: Come into a world of passion and elegance, conveyed with unequalled style by violinist Shlomo Mintz and pianist Yefim Bronfman, who present all the major French violin sonatas from the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Fauré, Franck, Debussy and Ravel).

As a special bonus, there is a selection of ten delightful Kreisler morceaux, where Mintz teams up with Clifford Benson. It's another world, rendered with equal aplomb.

On a hot summer night in 1990 history was made. On that night, three of the world's greatest tenors, JOSE CARRERAS, PLACIDO DOMINGO & LUCIANO PAVAROTTI became classical music's hottest ticket!

This best of series shows KIRI's rich tone, her quality of tranquillity & poise, her creamy lo register & sparkling high voice that has made her an unrivalled singer & the greatest soprano of her generation.

Considered one of the great conductors of all-time, SOLTI led the CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA for nearly 30 years & has also received more GRAMMY AWARDS, 32 in total, than any other artist in either pop or classical music.

Includes works by PACHELBEL, BACH & MOZART as well as music from Broadway & Dixieland favourites.

This package includes new liner notes & photos.

ARTISTS
Tatjana Vassileva, cello

The qualities inherent in TATJANA VASSILIEVA's playing that have been evident in all her previous recordings, are even more evident in this new album.

ARTISTS
Alexandre DMITRIEV, cello
Alexander PALEY piano

TRACKLISTING
CHOPIN : Sonate pour violoncelle et piano, opus 65
RACHMANINOV : Sonate pour violoncelle et piano, opus 19

As opposed to the other Chopin works we know, this Cello Sonata presents an outline that is clearly sharper and uncompromising. The virile austerity that presides over all the musical ideas is a new element that in no way ensues from what Chopin had previously written. The brutality--there is really no other word for it--that motivates the modulations is hardly in the composer's style, and the harmonic openings, often quite daring, are no longer what we were familiar with elsewhere. The vigour, energy, the will to affirm optimism, and joyful determination dominate the Sonata's movements, with the exception of a short, dreamy Largo in the course of which we more easily recognise the familiar Chopin.

Encouraged by the triumph provoked by the performance of the second and third movements of his Second Piano Concerto on 2 December 1900, Rachmaninov decided not only to complete it with the famous first movement, but also composed a 2 nd Suite for two pianos and the splendid Sonata for Cello and Piano

The work was supposed to be entitled 'Sonata for Piano and Cello obbligato', so much does the pianist face a strenuous workout for his fingers and, like Chopin, check the vague interpretative impulses of amateur pianists.

As concerns the cello, Rachmaninov, out of pure friendship for the splendid instrument, let himself go to the point of entrusting it with one of the most beautiful melodic lines in the history of music: that of the Andante.

The melodic and harmonic inspiration is so generous that it sometimes achieves that degree of smooth naïveté for which the composer was so often criticised. Here one senses the composer overwhelmed by the wave of rebirth, the cheerful rise of vital impulses, the supple, appealing rhythmic patterns, the irresistible pleasure of multiplying the fingering difficulties that lead quite simply to the secret and sincere outpourings of someone who would--quite surprisingly--be nicknamed 'the Puritan' (!).

This makes us smile today. In the long run, his music speaks for him--and much better, it would seem, than words!

ARTISTS
Guennadi FREIDINE , viola
Edoua rd OGANESSIAN , piano

Even though it is not exactly a 'new idea in Europe', the transcription of a transcription remains, like happiness, no less a rarity. The Schwanengesang lieder were of a perfect beauty, i.e. an apparently accomplished, finished beauty, a beauty that seemed to call for no correction, no addition.

This posthumous lieder cycle by Schubert (1828) was of a perfect beauty and awaited all the transformations that its destiny promised. Liszt, incapable of watching beauty go by without enriching it, did an admirable job of transcribing it for solo piano.

This transcription had not been reprinted since the 19 th century (1840) but was finally accomplished in 1995 by Durand. Another step could be taken in the history of transformations. Playing Schubert's lieder on the viola, with the original accompaniment, had been attempted periodically, but the disappearance of the text seemed an irreparable loss. Another solution was conceivable: shifting the interest from the singing to the piano, whose part would be considerably enriched. The relationship between the singing and piano was then inverted: it is no longer a matter of a voice that the piano accompanies, but of a superb, solitary piano, with a more modest viola tagging along.

Tearing the vocal part from the Liszt version, which he had included; then coming back to Schubert's original; entrusting the accompaniment to the viola; completely omitting the piano; saving Schubert's piano, and giving to the viola the Liszt ornamentation: all these procedures were used alternatively or simultaneously in order to arrive at a third work: a Schwanengesang for piano and viola based on Schubert/Liszt.

ARTISTS
FABIO GRASSO, piano

TRACKLISTING
1.          Sonata n° 1 K30 : Moderato
2.          Sonata n° 2 K41 : Andante moderato
3.          Sonata n° 3 K58 : Fuga
4.          Sonata n° 4 K93 : Suite LXVIII Fuga
5.          Sonata n° 5 K417 : Fuga e allegro moderato
6.          Sonata n° 6 K380 : L23 Andante comodo
7.          Sonata n° 7 K381 : Allegro
8.          Sonata n° 8 K497 : Allegro
9.          Sonata n° 9 K498 : Allegro
10.        Sonata n° 10 K259 : Andante
11.        Sonata n° 11 K260 : Allegro
12.        Sonata n° 12 K425 : Allegro molto
13.        Sonata n° 13 K426 : Andante
14.        Sonata n° 14 K427 : Presto quante sia possibile                 

Although Domenico Scarlatti frequently resorts to contrapuntal compositional techniques in his 555 Sonatas, only five of them have an openly contrapuntal form: the five Fugues K. 30, 41, 58, 93 and 417.

First we must point out that these five pieces are still entitled 'Sonata', even though they are in the form of a real fugue, that has nothing to do with the bipartite structure with refrain of the other Sonatas; the term Fugue appears there only as subtitle.

This simple consideration, in addition to the manifest exiguity of the number of Fugues in relation to the corpus, induces us to think that Scarlatti's interest in the noblest counterpoint form was quite sporadic. However, even in this domain the composer shows his remarkable creative versatility.

One would say that Scarlatti measures himself against the fugue to satisfy an intellectual curiosity, as if it were an occasional divertimento, without hesitating to adapt its rules to his own requirements. One can affirm that not only as a consequence of the numerous exceptions to the rules of the entrances and of the movements of the voices (actually, it is not so difficult to find additional voices suddenly appearing and disappearing, or parallel fifths, or an uninhibited treatment of dissonance), but also, and especially, from a wider perspective, in _ light of a general analysis of some stylistic traits.

The nine sonatas that complete the programme of this disc are grouped by twos or threes according to key.

The choice of these sonatas aims on the one hand to provide examples of these Suites or, on the other hand, to highlight features that make Scarlatti's instrumental style so original: the surprising harmonic solutions, the audacity of the modulations to remote keys, the contrasts in timbres, the imitations of the multicoloured orchestral sonorities which echoed in the Spanish royal palaces, where he lived for so long, as well as a certain meditative vein, a lesser-known aspect of his musical personality.