Product Microsite: www.deutschegrammophon.com/mackerras-tito

This new recording of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito was recorded entirely in the studio, followed by a highly acclaimed concert performance with the same cast at the Edinburgh Festival. With a stunning cast of singers conducted by Mozart-expert Sir Charles Mackerras, this is tagged to become the new benchmark recording in the history of Mozart's last opera (in order of composition) - another exciting release in Deutsche Grammophon's Mozart Forever 2006 initiative. With all of its dramatic characters driven by pure emotion - vengeance, obsession, hate, and grace - La Clemenza contains some of the most gripping music in Mozart's oeuvre.

Magdalena Kozená was hailed by the press for her interpretation of the torn Sesto:

'Given the importance of Sesto's role in that opera but, more particularly through Magdalena Kozená's superb singing, this was something of a one-woman show:

Kozená's two main arias . . . were ravishingly sung, in parts so much so it quite took your breath away.' (Opera Now)

Hillevi Martinpelto's Vitellia was on par with Ko?ená's captivating performance: 'Both sang wonderfully, with Kozená's piercingly sweet tones contrasting with Martinpelto's richer voice.' (The Guardian)

'Rainer Trost . . . was an exceptional Tito, voicing his arias with a combination of noble beauty and strength, subtly aware, unlike most interpreters, that compassion need not prelude toughness or fury.' (The Guardian)

ARTISTS
Friedrich Gulda, piano

TRACKLISTING
MOZART: Piano Sonata in C major K. 330
Piano Sonata in F major K. 332
Piano Sonata in B flat major K. 333
Piano Sonata in C major K. 279
Piano Sonata in F major K. 280
Piano Sonata in B flat major K.281
Piano Sonata in E flat major K.282
Piano Sonata in G major K. 283
Fantasie in C minor K. 475 12:49
Piano Sonata in C major K. 545
Piano Sonata in D major K. 311

Gulda's sensational Mozart - first-time release of 11 new recordings.

'I've been preparing for this for a long time. I wanted to know how this music feels. I can now say that it feels marvellous.'

Taped in 1980 - and now released for the first time ever - these recordings provide unique testimony to the spellbinding qualities of Friedrich Gulda's razor-edge Mozart. This is sure to be one of the true revelations of Mozart Year 2006.

Cult artist Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) made relatively few recordings for a pianist of his stature. He recorded the Mozart sonatas in winter 1980/81 on a characteristic sounding Bösendorfer. The original tapes have disappeared, and a copy Gulda gave to his recording producer Hans Klement is also untraceable. All that survives in usable form are cassette copies of ten of them, plus the Fantasy K.475, which DG have now chosen to release in an exceptionally interesting 3-CD set at mid price.

Repertoire includes the six early sonatas K.279 - K.284 plus gems like the C major K.330 and F major K.332, as well as the familiar Sonata facile K.545. The recorded sound is striking, even idiosyncratic - like a fortepiano's rather than a concert grand's. Gulda's interpretative hallmarks are evident at once - the motoric authority and naturalness with which he allows his fingers to pursue their unquestionable course; his choice of thrilling tempos and powerful rhythmic contrasts; the sensitivity with which he explores the slow movements; and his ability the music with cantabile smoothness (from Claus Spahn's booklet notes). The performances are electrifying, almost relentlessly virtuosic: this is no cutie-pie Mozart, but the real thing!

ARTISTS
Kaori Muraji, guitar

TRACKLISTING
SATIE: Gymnopedie No. 1 · Gymnopedie No. 3
DEBUSSY: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin
RAVEL: Pavane pour une infante défunte
DYENS: Saudade No. 3 ( Trois Saudades )
KLEYNJANS: 2 Barcarolles, op.60
DE BREVILLE: Fantasie pour guitare
SATIE: Gnossienne No 1
YOSHIMATSU: Water Color Scalor
DEBUSSY: Claire de Lune ( Suite Bergamasque )
LEGRAND: The Summer Knows ( The Summer of '42' )

A popular collection of French favourites arranged for solo guitar.

Classical guitar virtuoso, Kaori Muraji, returns with a unique collection of tracks exploring the works of the remarkable innovators of the musical world - from the pioneers of impressionism to the ground-breaking sophistication of the modern day master.

'Lumières' marks the second international release for this critically acclaimed performer, exclusively signed to Decca. The album showcases Muraji's distinct guitar arrangements of magnificent piano standards such as Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No.1 and Gymnopedie No.3, Ravel's Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte and The Summer Knows by the famous film composer Michel Legrand, all of which convey themselves as original guitar repertoire. Muraji's core repertoire is reflected with the inclusion of Pierre de Breville's Fantaisie Pour Guitare, and the prolific Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu's Water Color Scalor. She also plays homage to one of the guiding lights of the guitar, Roland Dyens, with her version of Suade No.3.

The result is an album of imagination and originality - an innovator interpreting innovators.

At only 25 years of age, Kaori Muraji is now regarded as one of the elite artists of the new music generation. Her latest offering Lumières which beautifully captivates the sensuality and versatility of the guitar, signifies this rightful elevation to the premier league of performers.

ARTISTS
Esterházy String Quartet
Jaap Schröder, violin I
Alda Stuurup, violin II
Linda Ashworth, viola
Wouter Möller, cello

TRACKLISTING
MOZART: String Quartet in G major, K387
String Quartet in D minor, K421
String Quartet in E flat major, K428
String Quartet in B flat major, K458 'The Hunt'
String Quartet in A major, K464
String Quartet in C major, K465 'Dissonance'

With the start of the Mozart anniversary year in 2006 some recordings which have been out of the catalogue will reappear and this 3-CD set is one such release.

This reissue comprises the set of six string quartets which Mozart wrote and dedicated to Haydn. The set was first published by Artaria in late 1785 and has remained one of the cornerstones of the string quartet repertory. The first Quartet in the set, K387, dates from 1782, and the fact that work on the six quartets occupied Mozart until 1785 (an unusually long time for him) indicates the seriousness he attached to these pieces.

Product Microsite: www.deutschegrammophon.com/emerson-intimatevoices

ARTISTS
Emerson String Quartet

TRACKLISTING
GRIEG: String Quartet in G minor Op.27
NIELSEN: At the bier of a young Artist
SIBELIUS: String Quartet in D minor Op.56

America's premier string quartet takes on masterworks of Scandinavian repertoire.

After nearly a quarter century at the top of the classical music scene, America's premier string quartet devotes itself to gems of Scandinavian repertoire. Intimate Voices is a collection of impassioned interpretations of hauntingly beautiful works by Sibelius, Nielsen and Grieg. Edward Grieg's string quartet was premiered in 1878 and is a forceful composition with a symphonic feel - music of remarkable expressiveness from a composer who is mainly known for his lyricism and folklore melodies. Premiered in 1910, the five-movement string quartet 'Voces intimae' (Intimate voices) is one of the most elaborate and distinguished pieces of its genre - as well as one of Jean Sibelius's few large-scale chamber works. Carl Nielsen wrote his short Andante lamentoso 'At the bier of a young artist' in 1910 to commemorate the death of his friend, the painter Oluf Hartmann - 21 years later it was played at the composer's own funeral.

This is music that ranges from fiery expressiveness to solemn grief - all brought to life by the exquisite playing of one of the best chamber ensembles of our time.

Product Microsite: www.deutschegrammophon.com/curtis-motezuma

Alan Curtis conducts the world-premiere recording of Vivaldi's rediscovered opera.

Archiv Produktion present the world premiere recording of the recently rediscovered opera Motezuma, one of Antonio Vivaldi's most ambitious, colorful and exotic scores. The manuscript was rediscovered in 2002 among the archives of the Berliner Singakademie, which were lost after the war and returned to Berlin in 1999. The opera is loosely based on Hernán Cortés's conquest of Mexico and the downfall of its former emperor Moctezuma (also 'Montezuma'; there are a variety of theories as to why the librettist adopted 'Motezuma'). The libretto includes a fictive love story between Moctezuma's daughter and Cortés's brother.

ARTISTS
Ian Holtham, piano

TRACKLISTING
Fantasie in C major, Op. 17
Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), Op. 82        
Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22            
Toccata, Op. 7

Featuring four works from the Romantic composer Robert Schumann, performed by Ian Holtham, one of Australia's foremost concert pianists.

Written at a time of severe emotional crisis due to his enforced separation from his wife Clara, the passionate Fantasie in C major, Op. 17 contains allusions to Beethoven, even quoting parts of his Seventh Symphony within the final movement. The series of miniatures that make up Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), Op. 82 were completed during one of Schumann's most prolific years of his career and contain a cycle of pieces depicting different forest settings. The Sonata in G minor, Op. 22 was written sporadically over a ten-year period and was one of the favourite pieces of his wife Clara owing to the work's virtuosity. The disc is brought to a close with the Toccata, Op. 7, dedicated to his young friend Ludwig Schunke, who performed this virtuosic work brilliantly at first sight.

MARKETING PLANS
Extensive reviews and airplay
Print advertising in Limelight magazine
National radio promotion on ABC Classic FM

ARTISTS
I Musici

TRACKLISTING
VIVALDI: The Four Seasons
Concerto No.1 'La primavera', RV 269
Concerto No.2 'L'estate', RV 315
Concerto No.3 'L'autunno', RV 293
Concerto No.4, 'L'inverno', RV 297

This unique CD + DVD release brings together two different interpretations of Vivaldi's timeless 'Four Seasons' - both by the acclaimed Italian string ensemble I Musici, but featuring different soloists. The performance on the CD features Pina Carmirelli as the violinist (in a digital recording previously on Philips 410 0012), whilst the other, in which Vivaldi's music is set against the seductive backdrop of Venice, has Federico Agostini as the virtuoso soloist.