Product Microsite: www.deutschegrammophon.com/grimaud-reflexions

ARTISTS
Hélène Grimaud, piano
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Truls Mörk, cello
Staatskapelle Dresden
Esa-Pekka Salonen

TRACKLISTING
ROBERT SCHUMANN : Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 54 (a-moll)
CLARA SCHUMANN : 'Er ist gekommen' Op. 12 No. 2
'Warum willst du and're fragen' Op. 12 No. 11
Am Strande
BRAHMS : Sonata for Piano and Violoncello No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 (e-moll)
Two Rhapsodies for Piano Op. 79

Reflexions is the brand new recording by the astonishingly talented pianist Hélène Grimaud. Like her previous releases for DG, this new CD isn't just a hot-potch recital, but an extremely interesting traversal of well-known and lesser-known music thematically linking the close personal and musical relationship between Robert Schumann, his wife Clara, and their friend Johannes Brahms.

Just as with Grimaud's recent Chopin-Rachmaninov recording, this new album explores the themes of love and transfiguration through music.

The album features Grimaud performing one of the most popular piano concertos of all time - Robert Schumann's romantic Piano Concerto in a minor Op. 54 - with Esa-Pekka Salonen leading the Staatskapelle Dresden. The disc was recorded in Dresden, where Clara Schumann premiered her husband's composition in 1845, on what would have been the Schumann's 165th wedding anniversary. Along with the famous Brahms Rhapsodies Op. 79, Nos. 1 and 2, other tracks include the Brahms Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 38 with Truls Mørk, the Norwegian cellist and Grimaud's long-time chamber music partner. Mørk has received rave press reviews for his interpretation of the Schumann cello concerto.

Product Microsite: www.deutschegrammophon.com/golijov-ayre

ARTISTS
Dawn Upshaw, soprano

TRACKLISTING
GOLIJOV : Ayre
BERIO : Folk Songs

Osvaldo Golijov makes DG debut with explosive new album Ayre

Osvaldo Golijov, one of the most exciting and unique personalities in contemporary music, begins his collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon with the album Ayre (pronounced 'eye-rah').

His works merge Eastern and Western classical influences and meld them with Mediterranean folklore. The explosive power of Golijov's art derives from the fact that Golijov has always used it to reflect his triple exile - from his roots in Eastern Europe, from his Jewish heritage, and now from his native Argentina.

Golijov's debut album features his own song cycle, Ayre , and Luciano Berio's Folk Songs , both interpreted by the celebrated soprano Dawn Upshaw. Golijov says that he 'saw a rainbow' when first realized the nuance of colour in Upshaw's voice and Ayre gives her the chance to demonstrate the breadth of her vocal range.

Golijov notes that he has long felt a connection to the music of Luciano Berio, and Ayre is scored for an ensemble similar to Berio's. Golijov also incorporates the accordion and ronroco (an Argentinian variant of the charango, a South American fretted lute) as well as the laptop, which Golijov regards as a 21st-century folk instrument.

In addition to its classical roots, the album is tinged with world music sounds and stars, including Gustavo Santaolalla, who wrote two of the songs on the album, and the Arab superstar Fairouz. Miles Davis's 'Sketches of Spain' is the inspiration for the final song on the album, and the Klezmer-tinged clarinet solos throughout Ayre were inspired by the world's most acclaimed Klezmer innovator, David Krakauer.

Golijov's multifaceted oeuvre will attract connoisseurs and a wider 'arthouse' audience, as well as anyone interested in exploring new acoustic and emotional worlds with this extraordinary listening experience.

ARTISTS
Mikhail Pletnev, piano

TRACKLISTING
MOZART : Piano Sonata in C major, K. 330 (300h)
Piano Sonata in F major, K. 332 (300k)
Piano Sonata in C minor, K. 457
Piano Sonata in A major, K. 331 (300i)

Product Microsite: www.deutschegrammophon.com/pletnev-mozart

Mikhail Pletnev fuels Mozart year 2006 with his first solo Mozart recital!

In the hands of the Russian piano legend, Mozart's sonatas take on new shades of colour and meaning as Mikhail Pletnev's favorite sonatas appear for the first time on CD.

If anything lends itself to high expectations, then it must be this meeting of minds: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Mikhail Pletnev. On the one hand: Mozart, the playful Classicist; on the other: Pletnev, the free Romantic. Everything points to an explosive mix As his fans have come to hope and expect, the Maestro has delivered a very individual reading of Mozart's music. 'An artist without intuition would do better to become a bookkeeper,' Pletnev has said. 'Mozart? I play him just as I hear him.'

Pletnev recorded all four sonatas in one night on a Blüthner concert grand. The result: an intensity and intimacy that reveal Mozart works in a new light.

Product Microsite: www.deutschegrammophon.com/faure-mozart

ARTISTS
Fauré Quartett
Erika Geldsetzer, violin
Sascha Frömbling, viola
Konstantin Heidrich, cello
Dirk Mommertz, piano

TRACKLISTING
MOZART : Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478
Piano Quartet in E flat major, K. 493

The phenomenal Fauré Quartett interprets both of Mozart's rarely played piano quartets - and delivers a musical discovery!

Music lovers everywhere will delight in discovering these little-known masterpieces from Mozart's oeuvre, performed by a this young German quartet.

The Fauré Quartett was formed in Karlsruhe in 1995 to mark the sesquicentennial of Fauré's birth and was soon winning national and international awards. In just ten years, it has conquered the great halls of London, Paris, Berlin and elsewhere, winning highest critical acclaim of major media such as The Strad and Sueddeutsche Zeitung. As the one and only Martha Argerich put it, 'Anyone who has heard the Fauré Quartett will want to hear them again.'

ARTISTS
Mischa Maisky, violoncello
Pavel Gililov, piano

TRACKLISTING
GLINKA : How sweet it is to be with you · Do not tempt me needlessly · I recall a wonderful moment (The Lark)
TCHAIKOVSKY : Cradle Song Op. 16 No. 1
None, but the lonely heart Op. 6 No. 6
Frenzied Nights Op. 60 No. 6
Night Op. 60 No. 9
It happened in the early Spring Op. 38 No. 2
DARGOMÏZHSKY : I am sad ...
MUSSORGSKY : Une Larme (A Tear)
RUBINSTEIN : Night
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV : The clouds begin to scatter (Elegy) Op. 42 No. 3
The Nymph Op. 56 No. 1
Eastern Song: Enslaved by the rose, the nightingale Op. 2 No. 2
ARENSKY : Do not kindle the fires Op. 38 No. 3
CUI : The burnt letter Op. 33 No. 4
GLAZUNOV : Desire Op. 60 No. 2
RACHMANINOV : Sing not to me, beautiful maiden Op. 4 No. 4
How fair this spot! Op. 21 No. 7
Vocalise Op. 34 No. 14
GURILYOV : I am weary and sad ...
ANON : When I met you ...

Preeminent cellist Mischa Maisky pays tribute to his musical heritage with an intimate rendering of Russian songs

Russian Romances is a collection of Mischa Maisky's favorite songs from his native Russia, all transcribed for cello and piano. With this new album, one of the world's most formidable cellists lends his vivid sound to repertoire familiar to him since the days of his childhood - as much an homage to the musical tradition of Russia as to the sound of the cello.

In Maisky's own words, 'the human voice is the ideal instrument . . . and the cello is the one that comes closest to it.' The repertoire showcases all the beauty of the rich romantic song tradition of Russia, with highlights including Rachmaninov's well-known 'Vocalise', Tchaikovsky's 'None, but the lonely heart', and Mussorgsky's 'Tear', as well as pieces by lesser known composers such as Dargomizhsky, Arensky, and Gurilev.

Russian Romances is Maisky's fifth album to explore the 'songs without words' concept - critically acclaimed previous releases have focused on songs by Schubert and Brahms, among others. This release - at once soft, passionate and melancholic - will prove to be ideal listening for long winter nights!

After a short absence from the catalogue, this magnificent recording of Purcell's masterpiece has once again been made available, in Decca's Classic Operas series.

With the baroque specialist Christopher Hogwood and his Academy of Ancient Music and featuring such respected and much loved early music singers as Catherine Bott, Emma Kirkby, John Mark Ainsley and David Thomas this recording has, since its original release in 1994, been regarded as the finest performance of this often recorded work.

'Catherine Bott is a fine Dido, even voiced across the range and powerfully expressive...John Mark Ainsley easily stands as the finest Aeneas...this is a classic interpretation. So too is Hogwood's reading of the score, with his faultless sense of the right speed and right rhythm.' The Gramophone