{"title":"New \u0026 Recent from Alpha Classics","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"iphigenie-en-tauride","title":"Desmarets \u0026 Campra: Iphigenie en Tauride","description":"Nearly a century before Gluck, another opera called Iphigenie en Tauride - same plot, same protagonists - had immense success on the opera stage. This 'first' Iphigenie has rather a curious history. The opera was sketched out by composer Henri Desmarest around the year 1695, but he was then banished from France by Louis XIV for having married a young girl without her father's consent. The uncompleted score of Iphigenie was then entrusted to Andre Campra. The opera, since lost and forgotten, was rediscovered by Benoit Dratwicki, Director of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, who marvels at it's stylistic unity: 'Campra easily adopted Desmarest's style. He just added some virtuoso arias to the divertissements, as well as the tuneful choruses that were his speciality.' Iphigenie en Tauride had it's premiere on 6 May 1704, and was revived throughout Europe from 1711. Thanks to Herve Niquet, a top-flight team of singers, an orchestra well versed in French repertoire, and all their collaborative research into the practices and specific playing techniques of the early 18th century, Iphigenie sees the light of day once more.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49309953982744,"sku":"3701624511060","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4386337-3290385.jpg?v=1777492360"},{"product_id":"exile","title":"Exile","description":"This programme brings together composers who, for the most part, were compelled to flee their homeland. In 1920, Ivan Wyschnegradsky took refuge in Paris, where he wrote for a quarter-tone piano at a time when, in Russia, the slightest dissonance was considered a political provocation. Andrzej Panufnik left his native Poland in 1954. Alfred Schnittke settled in Hamburg in 1990, eight years before his death, having spent most of his life in the Soviet Union. Although Schubert never moved away from Vienna, the pain and solitude of his inner exile are palpable in his music. Finally, the Belgian violin virtuoso Eugene Ysaye emigrated on account of the First World War and it was in the United States, in 1917, that he wrote the melancholy musical poem recorded here, which he called Exil! Is exile nothing but pain and isolation, or also a source of inspiration which, with music, expresses what words cannot say, acting as the ultimate refuge? 'Let's listen to what they have to say', suggests Patricia Kopatchinskaja, herself 'uprooted for ever'. She is joined by cellist Thomas Kaufmann and her friends from Camerata Bern.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49309954146584,"sku":"3701624511107","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4386338-3290386.jpg?v=1777492373"},{"product_id":"concert-arias","title":"Mozart: Concert Arias","description":"Fresh from his triumphant onstage success in Paris, Berlin and Brussels singing leading roles in the operas of Rameau and Mozart, tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen presents his long-awaited first Mozart recording. Together with his ensemble A Nocte Temporis, he has devised a highly imaginative programme. From the eleven single opera and concert arias for tenor and orchestra that are ascribed to Mozart, the Belgian tenor has selected those that are entirely in the composer's hand - leaving out the ones completed or reconstructed by others, and adding an exquisite aria from Mitridate, re di Ponto. Mozart was only nine years old when in 1765, during his stay in London, he launched into his first opera aria for tenor and orchestra, to verses from a libretto by Metastasio. At the end of 1766, on his return to Salzburg, the child prodigy composed Or che il Dover - Tali e cotanti sono KV 36 for a festive celebration, making the court aware of his enormous talent. Throughout his career, alongside his own operas Mozart also wrote arias intended for insertion into the operas of other composers, hidden masterpieces that now receive revelatory performances.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49309954539800,"sku":"3701624511145","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4386339-3290387.jpg?v=1777492425"},{"product_id":"grosz-gund-be-still-my-heart","title":"Grosz \u0026 Gund: Be Still My Heart","description":"Be Still My Heart presents works by two little-known Viennese composers. Robert Gund (1865-1927), born in Switzerland, a pianist, teacher and composer who was highly regarded in Vienna but whose works have since been forgotten, and his younger brother Wilhelm Grosz (1894-1939), who was writing highly successful songs for the cinema in Berlin at the time of Gund's death. Grosz then emigrated to the United States in 1939, when his music became influenced by both post-Romanticism and jazz. This programme, conceived and performed here by Christian Immler and Helmut Deutsch, both masters of the German Lied, includes many songs that are recorded for the first time. Grosz's New York songs have inspired many cover versions by such 20th-century musical greats as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and the Beatles.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49475653009688,"sku":"3701624511176","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4394721-3312251.jpg?v=1777490283"},{"product_id":"dazzling-light","title":"Dazzling Light","description":"On Dazzling Light Christopher Lowrey and his vocal ensemble Altera explore light in all it's forms. There is a remarkable body of choral music that evokes light's many facets: the light of morning and evening, sacred light, light as a symbol of Christ, light as the conqueror of darkness and even (thanks to the James Webb telescope) the light of distant galaxies. This programme includes works primarily from the 20th and 21st centuries, with music by John Rutter, Jonathan Dove, Matthew Martin, Toby Young, Charles Wood, Ko Matsushita, Sir William Harris, Eric Whitacre, Thomas Tallis, Michael Garrepy and David Hill. There is also an evening prayer by English composer Joanna Marsh, a work by South African composer Motshwane Pege, the winner of Altera's third composition competition, and John Cameron's arrangement of Edward Elgar's Nimrod from the Enigma Variations; this work, entitled Lux aeterna, is perfectly suited to Altera's strengths.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49475652878616,"sku":"3701624511206","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4394723-3312253.jpg?v=1777490288"},{"product_id":"par-amour","title":"Par amour","description":"Love is the common thread running through this first recorded recital by soprano Vannina Santoni; it's also an opportunity to look back over her fifteen-year career, through her leading roles, alongside her favourite musicians. With the help of the Orchestre National de Lille and Quebecois conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni, she places her sensual voice at the service of famous operatic arias featuring the amorous heroines of Gounod, Massenet, Puccini ('O mio babbino caro'), Catalini ('Ne andro' from La Wally) and Verdi (Desdemona's poignant 'Ave Maria' from Otello). The programme also includes a rare but sublime aria from Franco Alfano's Tolstoy-inspired opera Risurrezione (1904), as well as the magnificent 'Saint-Sulpice' duet from Massenet's Manon, with tenor Julien Dran. Finally, Vannina Santoni pays homage to her Corsican roots with a new orchestration of the lullaby 'O Ciucciarella' that Corsican mothers have sung to their children for generations.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49475653599512,"sku":"3701624511183","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4392285-3307318.jpg?v=1777491989"},{"product_id":"godowsky-franck-rachmaninoff-chiaroscuro","title":"Godowsky, Franck \u0026 Rachmaninoff: Chiaroscuro","description":"In 2022, 19-year-old pianist Roman Borisov became the youngest winner of the prestigious Kissinger KlavierOlymp competition. After taking part in Alpha's 'Next Generation Mozart Soloists' collection (ALPHA991), he now presents his first solo recital in Alpha's ongoing 'Piano Stories' series, which he sees as a 'conversation with the past', featuring composers inspired by earlier styles to create new works. Born in 1870, the brilliant virtuoso pianist Leopold Godowsky composed twenty-four 'free arrangements' of music by masters of the Baroque. Among these, Roman Borisov has selected pieces based on works by Rameau, Corelli, Scarlatti and John Loeillet (whose pieces were originally mis-attributed to Lully)... In 1931, Rachmaninoff composed his last original work for solo piano: a set of variations on 'La Folia', a 15th-century dance theme that Corelli famously used in one of his violin sonatas. The encounter between the Baroque style and the harmonic richness of the Russian composer is fascinating. The superb Prelude, Chorale and Fugue composed by Cesar Franck in 1884, an obvious tribute to J.S. Bach, concludes Roman's pianistic journey through time.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49475653533976,"sku":"3701624510803","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4392283-3307316.jpg?v=1777491974"},{"product_id":"schubert-kurtag-lines-of-life","title":"Schubert \u0026 Kurtag: Lines of Life","description":"Benjamin Appl met Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag in 2019 and has worked with him ever since. 'He has shaped me both as a musician and as a human being, perhaps more than anyone else,' says Appl. This album alternates Romantic German lieder by Schubert and Brahms with vocal pieces by Kurtag, five of which are world premiere recordings. Kurtag himself is at the piano for two of the songs by Schubert and Brahms; while the German baritone's old and trusted friends Pierre-Laurent Aimard and James Baillieu join him for the other works in this programme, all under the artistic direction of Kurtag, ending with a fascinating recorded interview with Gyuri bacsi ('Uncle George') by Benjamin Appl, who tells us: 'My aim in this album is to give listeners a glimpse into the infinite universe of Gyorgy Kurtag, a shy procrastinator, stern self-critic, hesitant researcher, introverted questioner, unpretentious intellectual, brilliant composer and an extraordinary human being.'","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49475653566744,"sku":"3701624511459","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4392286-3307319.jpg?v=1777491998"},{"product_id":"hensel-mendelssohn-guess-who","title":"Hensel \u0026 Mendelssohn: Guess Who?","description":"Pianist Olga Pashchenko creates musical narratives with selections from Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words. As children, the two immensely prodigious siblings enjoyed using text to inspire their piano pieces, although which of them was the actual inventor of the genre remains a mystery. It is possible that they either co-created this genre, or even that Fanny could have been the creator of the genre traditionally ascribed exclusively to Felix. This music, although wordless, is bursting with poetry and well-suited to the Conrad Graf piano from 1836 that Pashchenko chose for this recording. The Graf piano, a brand favoured by Felix, has a recitative-like quality that Pashchenko uses to perfectly articulate the poetry inherent in these Lieder ohne Worte or as Fanny called them, Lieder fur das Pianoforte.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49475656024344,"sku":"3701624511190","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4394722-3312252.jpg?v=1777490166"},{"product_id":"j-s-bach-goldberg-variations","title":"J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations","description":"A genuine masterpiece inspires musicians to adopt, adapt, or transcribe it without losing any of it's greatness. Nevermind's four baroque aces, Anna Besson, Louis Creac'h, Robin Pharo and Jean Rondeau, have taken a creative look at Bach's famous Goldberg Variations and have made their own stylishly insightful 'variations' on the work. As they themselves explain: 'We needed only an informal rehearsal to grasp the incredible potential of a transcription for our ensemble. There have been other arrangements, but nobody has ever attempted this one before now, even though our instruments are among those most typically used in J.S. Bach's chamber music, in his many solo sonatas for flute, violin or gamba with bass continuo and obbligato harpsichord - and they also frequently feature in the arias of his cantatas and Passions.'","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49475663724824,"sku":"3701624511169","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4392284-3307317.jpg?v=1777490712"},{"product_id":"sibelius-symphonies-nos-6-7-the-tempest","title":"Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 6 \u0026 7; The Tempest","description":"This volume concludes the complete Sibelius symphonies performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Santtu-Matias Rouvali. This series has already won numerous awards around the world and reaches it's climax here with three of Sibelius' greatest symphonies: Andrew Mellor writes in his introductory text that \"we hear music carried by forms of gravitational energy reminiscent of those that govern the course of a river\". Rouvali has also chosen to record eight extracts from Sibelius' incidental music for Shakespeare's The Tempest. First performed in March 1926, it is one of Sibelius's final orchestral works and is certainly his most fascinating composition for the theatre.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49475664052504,"sku":"3701624511305","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4394724-3312254.jpg?v=1777490828"},{"product_id":"mozart-complete-works-for-clarinet-vol-1","title":"Mozart: Complete Works for Clarinet, Vol. 1","description":"Mozart always had a special affinity with wind instruments: for him they were essential components of his musical expression, claims French clarinettist Nicolas Baldeyrou, a globally renowned soloist who has performed with some of the greatest conductors and virtuosi: this album is the first volume of a complete set of Mozart's chamber and concertante music involving the clarinet, which he has chosen to record on period instruments, \"an authentic and revelatory experience, despite the technical challenges it presents\". He has enlisted the help of his musical friends, all of whom are recognised as adept practitioners of modern instruments, but sustain a strong passion for period instruments... The programme of this first release includes the Serenades KV 375 and 388 as well as Mozart's Gran Partita KV 361, a work on an exceptionally grand scale, with it's line-up of thirteen players, it's expansive duration, and it's supreme musical quality, \"rising to the level of Mozart's greatest symphonies and operas\".","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49704378073368,"sku":"3701624510407","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4397807-3315040.jpg?v=1777490108"},{"product_id":"molecule-symphonie-no-1-quantique","title":"Molecule: Symphonie No. 1 \"Quantique\"","description":"Romain de la Haye-Serafini, aka Molecule, is an electronic music composer, DJ and musical adventurer, who has made field-recording his trademark. For several years this Breton has travelled the world, from the tumultuous waters of the North Atlantic or Nazare in Portugal, to a Vendee Globe boat on which he embarked to search for sounds which he then sculpted into their final form. Two years ago, he decided to immerse himself in the heart of a symphony orchestra, a less dangerous but equally fascinating adventure. He captured every sound that the orchestra made, not only those created by Mahler and Beethoven, but also the sounds of the instruments themselves, from which he created a symphonic work which was then transcribed for 83 musicians. The Orchestre National de Lille under Alexandre Bloch accepted the challenge offered by this unprecedented exploration and now presents Molecule's first symphony, titled the Quantum Symphony; it is not only a bridge between the past and the future but also an introspective work by a unique artist.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49704378106136,"sku":"3701624510827","price":16.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4397808-3315041.jpg?v=1777490175"},{"product_id":"shostakovich-suite-on-verses-of-michelangelo-october","title":"Shostakovich: Suite on Verses of Michelangelo; October","description":"Matthias Goerne, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Franck continue their series of recordings of Shostakovich's symphonic works with baritone with the Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1974), and the symphonic poem October (1967). These are two very different works: the first is one of Shostakovich's most deeply personal creations and has no connection to the ideological issues of Soviet power. The second was commissioned by the Soviet authorities to glorify the 1917 Revolution and is filled with irony. Goerne is the perfect interpreter for Shostakovich's great cycle of settings of verses by Michelangelo, in which intimate moments where the voice is almost a cappella alternate with powerfully dramatic passages with full orchestra.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49704378138904,"sku":"3701624511213","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4397809-3315042.jpg?v=1777490036"},{"product_id":"molecule-symphonie-no-1-quantique-1","title":"Molecule: Symphonie No. 1 \"Quantique\"","description":"Romain de la Haye-Serafini, aka Molecule, is an electronic music composer, DJ and musical adventurer, who has made field-recording his trademark. For several years this Breton has travelled the world, from the tumultuous waters of the North Atlantic or Nazare in Portugal, to a Vendee Globe boat on which he embarked to search for sounds which he then sculpted into their final form. Two years ago, he decided to immerse himself in the heart of a symphony orchestra, a less dangerous but equally fascinating adventure. He captured every sound that the orchestra made, not only those created by Mahler and Beethoven, but also the sounds of the instruments themselves, from which he created a symphonic work which was then transcribed for 83 musicians. The Orchestre National de Lille under Alexandre Bloch accepted the challenge offered by this unprecedented exploration and now presents Molecule's first symphony, titled the Quantum Symphony; it is not only a bridge between the past and the future but also an introspective work by a unique artist.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl","offer_id":49704378171672,"sku":"3701624511237","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4397810-3315043.jpg?v=1777490126"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-91","title":"Mahler: Symphony No. 5","description":"This recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich under it's Music Director Paavo Jarvi, is the first in a complete cycle of Mahler symphonies. Jarvi has of course conducted Mahler's works many times in his career, but has waited for the right moment to record the complete cycle in the studio: the right moment not only in his life as a musician but also in his relationship with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich; the maturity and power revealed in the orchestra's recordings for Alpha Classics have been hailed by the music press since 2019. \"Mahler truly opened up a new universe with the Fifth, in which he initiated an incredibly personal style of music-making.\" says Paavo Jarvi. \"It is the very nature of it's opening - a military funeral - and of it's tragedy, in conjunction with the very idea of beginning a symphony in this way, which signals that something completely different is in store for us\".","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49704378204440,"sku":"3701624511275","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4397811-3315044.jpg?v=1777490030"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-92","title":"Mahler: Symphony No.5","description":"This recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich under it's Music Director Paavo Jarvi, is the first in a complete cycle of Mahler symphonies. Jarvi has of course conducted Mahler's works many times in his career, but has waited for the right moment to record the complete cycle in the studio: the right moment not only in his life as a musician but also in his relationship with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich; the maturity and power revealed in the orchestra's recordings for Alpha Classics have been hailed by the music press since 2019. \"Mahler truly opened up a new universe with the Fifth, in which he initiated an incredibly personal style of music-making.\" says Paavo Jarvi. \"It is the very nature of it's opening - a military funeral - and of it's tragedy, in conjunction with the very idea of beginning a symphony in this way, which signals that something completely different is in store for us\".","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl","offer_id":49704378237208,"sku":"3701624511541","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4397812-3315045.jpg?v=1777490837"},{"product_id":"bach-the-well-tempered-clavier-book-ii","title":"Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II","description":"Aaron Pilsan completes his recording of the Well-Tempered Clavier, five years after the first volume was praised by critics for it's ardent, accurate and fluid interpretation. Twenty years lie between the two volumes; whilst the first is better known, 'the second book is more playful, but also more accomplished. It goes further harmonically and also demonstrates extraordinary harmonic invention with original and often exotic harmonies. The best example of what differentiates the two books is the fugue in D sharp minor in the second book, a piece whose boldness and harmonic originality never ceases to enthral and astonish me,' says the Austrian pianist, who again demonstrates his fascination for the composer: 'What I love most about Bach's music is that he expresses everything that goes to make up our lives, but in perfect order.'","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49882194018584,"sku":"3701624510346","price":21.59,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4402452-3323963.jpg?v=1777488243"},{"product_id":"marais-pieces-inedites-pour-flute-voix-humaines","title":"Marais: Pieces inedites pour flute - Voix humaines","description":"While Marin Marais is best known for his works for viola da gamba, he also composed for the flute; Michael Lynn's recent rediscovery of manuscripts containing pieces for flute and basso continuo as well as duets caught the attention of Francois Lazarevitch and Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, who now present the first recordings of these works. \"This virgin territory did not open up to me straight away, and only did so after an ongoing exploration that took me more than a year... What is fascinating is that these pieces by Marais are not like anything already known in the flute repertoire; the flute at this period, around 1700, was still a very recent instrument\". To accompany the flute, Francois Lazarevitch has called on his long-standing partners eric Bellocq (lute) and Lucile Boulanger (viola da gamba), who also plays Les Voix humaines, one of the great masterpieces written for her instrument, chiming with the previously heard version of Les Voix humaines composed for the flute!","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49882214727960,"sku":"3701624511268","price":16.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4402456-3323967.jpg?v=1741876752"},{"product_id":"electric-fields-lp-version","title":"Electric Fields (LP version)","description":"Electric Fields' offers modern arrangements of centuries-old vocal music, as well as new compositions, all involving soprano, pianos, and live electronics. The meditative compositions of medieval polymath Hildegard von Bingen are the point of departure for this album. Hildegard's texts soar to the spiritual realm both in Latin and in her invented lingua ignota. Additionally, the vernacular love songs of two composers from the Italian Baroque, Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini, gave inspiration for this album. Several works from American composer Bryce Dessner complete the eclectic programme. Soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque are joined by composer\/performer David Chalmin in this captivating journey through meditative and ambient musical atmospheres. Together they create an intense and unique cosmos of sound.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl","offer_id":49882215121176,"sku":"3701624511527","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4409973-3332315.jpg?v=1741891496"},{"product_id":"adams-stravinsky-gershwin-bernstein-hallelujah-junction","title":"Adams, Stravinsky, Gershwin \u0026 Bernstein: Hallelujah Junction","description":"Anna Geniushene and Lukas Geniusas both have brilliant careers as soloists: Anna won the silver medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022 and now records for Fuga Libera, while Lukas' two Rachmaninov recordings, a recital of solo works (ALPHA997) and songs with Asmik Grigorian (ALPHA796), have both won major awards. Partners in life and in art, they form a highly virtuosic and tightly knit duo. This highly varied programme pays tribute to American music with works by Gershwin, Stravinsky, Copland and McPhee, a succession of melting-pots that create fusions of classical music, jazz, Mexican music and Balinese rhythms. The spectacular and rebellious Fourth Ballad from Frederic Rzewski's North American Ballads (1978-79) is also included. This musical odyssey concludes with the vast fresco that is John Adam's magnificent Hallelujah Junction (1996).","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49882219774232,"sku":"3701624511220","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4404913-3378351.jpg?v=1777724820"},{"product_id":"prokofiev-shor","title":"Prokofiev \u0026 Shor","description":"Many people have been waiting for Behzod Abduraimov's performance of Prokofiev's second piano concerto - that powerful work which caused a scandal when it was first performed near St Petersburg in 1913 because it was considered too futuristic. The work that we hear today is a version that Prokofiev himself reconstructed and reworked in 1923, as his first version was burnt on his departure from Russia. Abduraimov gives a dazzling performance of the work with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and it's conductor Vasily Petrenko. The Prokofiev stands in stark contrast to Alexey Shor's Piano Concerto No. 1, which was composed and first performed in 2023. Abduraimov embraces the juxtaposition of the two works: \"the depth and complexity of Prokofiev's universe is set against Shor's more lyrical and accessible art: each work reflects different facets of the human experience, and I think it's good to share this diversity of feelings, textures and moods\".","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49882220298520,"sku":"3701624511244","price":16.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4402454-3323965_40e19d21-6b02-48e2-8ee4-5eaa88b29a79.jpg?v=1777489792"},{"product_id":"vox-feminae","title":"Vox Feminae","description":"After their explorations of Italian repertoire in Che fai t�? (MU-037) and French in Vous avez dit brunettes? (Alpha 761), Les Kapsber'girls, a vocal and instrumental ensemble founded by lutenist Albane Imbs in 2015, devotes it's third album to Baroque women composers: hidden talents, unrevealed destinies, few of these composers have had the opportunity to reveal their art, which is nevertheless very real. Recent research has made it possible to revive the fascinating works of composers such as Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677), Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704), Lucia Quinciani (1566-1611), Francesca Caccini (1587-1641), Antonia Bembo (c.1643-1715), and Francesca Campana (c.1615-c.1665), who spent sixty-nine years of her life in an Ursuline convent in Novara, although this did not prevent her from composing no fewer than two hundred works!","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49882220560664,"sku":"3701624510988","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4402453-3323964.jpg?v=1778802296"},{"product_id":"rebelle","title":"Rebelle","description":"To mark the 150th anniversary of Bizet's death and the premiere of his immensely popular Carmen, Alpha Classics and Le Palazzetto Bru Zane now pay tribute to Celestine Galli-Marie, the singer who created the title role. A remarkable actress and singer, she created sixteen roles in fifteen years at the Opera-Comique, including Ambroise Thomas' iconic Mignon and Jacques Offenbach's Fantasio. Eva Zaicik is delighted to take on the roles created by such a colourful artist: 'Celestine embodied a certain idea of artistic and feminine rebellion. Her voice, charisma and unique theatrical approach brought to life characters who were free, complex and often struggled with the norms of their time.' Supported superbly by Pierre Dumoussaud and the Orchestre National de Lille, the French mezzo not only brilliantly embodies characters created by Bizet, Massenet, Offenbach and Thomas but also breathes new life into arias by Paladilhe, Poise, Deffes, Masse, Guiraud, Cohen and Grisar.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49882220724504,"sku":"3701624511282","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4402457-3323968.jpg?v=1777489898"},{"product_id":"schumann-faure-samsara","title":"Schumann \u0026 Faure: Samsara","description":"For her fourth recital on Alpha Classics, mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey has chosen to record two cycles, Schumann's well-known Frauenliebe und Leben and Faure's La Chanson d'eve, a much more unfamiliar work. What the two cycles have in common is that a woman is their protagonist: \"both works deal with innocence, discovery, joy, sorrow and ultimately a deeper understanding of life that only experience can offer\", says Kate Lindsey, who has named this new album Samsara, a Sanskrit word that evokes the cycle of life, from birth to death. Eric Le Sage, a great specialist in the music of Faure and Schumann, is the ideal partner for this introspective journey, which also features extracts from Schumann's sublime Myrthen as well as Faure's famed Clair de lune and Chanson d'amour.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49882220953880,"sku":"3701624511251","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4402455-3323966.jpg?v=1777489841"},{"product_id":"couperin-lalande-lecons-de-tenebres","title":"Couperin \u0026 Lalande: Lecons de Tenebres","description":"The Office of Tenebrae was extremely popular in France in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was tightly structured and also had a true theatrical dimension, notably through the use of light and the gradual extinguishing of a candle after each lesson. The three Lecons de Tenebres by Francois Couperin are a skilful blend of theatrical writing that expresses the extremely poignant text of the Lamentations of Jeremiah with haunting recitations of Hebrew letters (Aleph, Beth, Caph...). This music is often associated with the female voices of convents and abbeys although religious houses for men such as the Jesuit houses also celebrated the Tenebrae with music. Louis-Noel Bestion de Camboulas has chosen to record this programme with male voices, a choice that reveals unexpected new colours and textures in the music. The album also includes Lalande's Miserere, again with male voices: haute-contre, taille and basse.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49882223182104,"sku":"3701624511299","price":16.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4402458-3323969.jpg?v=1777489870"},{"product_id":"electric-fields","title":"Electric Fields","description":"Electric Fields' offers modern arrangements of centuries-old vocal music, as well as new compositions, all involving soprano, pianos, and live electronics. The meditative compositions of medieval polymath Hildegard von Bingen are the point of departure for this album. Hildegard's texts soar to the spiritual realm both in Latin and in her invented lingua ignota. Additionally, the vernacular love songs of two composers from the Italian Baroque, Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini, gave inspiration for this album. Several works from American composer Bryce Dessner complete the eclectic programme. Soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque are joined by composer\/performer David Chalmin in this captivating journey through meditative and ambient musical atmospheres. Together they create an intense and unique cosmos of sound.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49978995114264,"sku":"3760014199806","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4409974-3332316.jpg?v=1777488419"},{"product_id":"chopin-intime","title":"Chopin Intime","description":"Justin Taylor has a passion for early keyboards and is always keen to match the works he tackles with the most appropriate historical instruments. Justin has always been fascinated by the music of Frederic Chopin, whose intimate musical world is presented here. We know that Chopin composed some of his preludes during his stay with George Sand in Mallorca, where he used a very special instrument. This was a Pleyel pianino - a small upright piano of six and a half octaves that was only made between 1835 and 1842 - with a beautiful natural resonance and a velvety timbre. Taylor has recorded the preludes composed on this Pleyel pianino along with a selection of etudes, nocturnes and mazurkas, all of which suit the sound of the instrument perfectly. A moving transcription of Bellini's Casta diva, an aria that Chopin much admired, is also included here.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49991346684184,"sku":"3701624511329","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4409972-3332314.jpg?v=1777488219"},{"product_id":"for-dieter-hommage-a-dietrich-fischer-dieskau","title":"For Dieter - Hommage a Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau","description":"Baritone Benjamin Appl pays tribute to his mentor, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, whose centenary we celebrate in 2025. \"The first time I heard his voice was at school when I was twelve. In 2009, I applied for his master class at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg which was the start of a long and transformative relationship. I was fortunate to work with him on my entire repertoire over countless hours in his homes in Berlin and Berg.\"    This album, a CD-book of 140 pages with personal text written by Appl alongside numerous previously unpublished photos and letters, offers us a glimpse into who Fischer-Dieskau was as a person, outside of his obvious public successes and accolades. The repertoire in this touching recording is structured to reflect the major stages of his life and includes compositions by family members Albert and Klaus Fischer-Dieskau, repertoire he sang as a soldier during WW2 and as a POW in Italy, commissions composed especially for him through to favourite Lieder by Schubert.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50001376805144,"sku":"3701624511312","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4420723-3383071.jpg?v=1777485251"},{"product_id":"images-hommage-a-marcel-tournier","title":"Images - Hommage a Marcel Tournier","description":"The harpist Emmanuel Ceysson is unanimously recognised for his powerful virtuoso playing. He was appointed principal harp with the Opera national de Paris at the age of 22, where he remained for fifteen years before going to the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera of New York for five years; he has been principal harpist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel since 2020. Here he pays tribute to Marcel Tournier (1879-1951), one of the greatest harpist composers in the history of the instrument. The majority of Tournier's works are for solo harp or voice and harp, but he later added other instruments to certain pieces and so transformed them into chamber works. The works recorded here date from his mature years and show the influence of Debussy, Satie, and Ravel. Emmanuel Ceysson, the Quatuor Voce and Veronique Gens draw our attention to this important composer and to several previously unpublished versions of some of his works, the manuscripts of which have only recently come to light.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50001395155224,"sku":"3701624511336","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4413281-3364103.jpg?v=1777485281"},{"product_id":"souvenirs-de-monte-carlo","title":"Souvenirs de Monte-Carlo","description":"This recital by Jean-Francois Borras honours the fascinating history of the Opera de Monte-Carlo, the house that has performed more French repertoire than any other. Jean-Francois Borras, who received his initial training in the choir of the Monte-Carlo Cathedral and is an internationally-renowned ambassador of French vocal style, presents excerpts from works by Mascagni, Gunsbourg and Massenet that were composed for the Opera there. Raoul Gunsbourg was the director of the Opera de Monte Carlo (architect Charles Garnier) from 1893-1951 and the variety of his programming created the institution's exceptional renown. Borras sings arias from operas that he has performed on the stage of the Opera de Monte-Carlo, including Romeo et Juliette (Gounod), Manon, Herodiade, Werther (Massenet), Carmen (Bizet) and Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach), accompanied by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo under Pierre Dumoussaud, a young French conductor and specialist in operatic repertoire who is rapidly building an international career.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50001418158360,"sku":"3701624510957","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4417555-3379370.jpg?v=1777485241"},{"product_id":"from-eastern-europe","title":"From Eastern Europe","description":"The Hecker Helmchen duo is renowned for the high standard of their performances, which is reflected in their recordings. The German cellist Marie-Elisabeth Hecker caused a sensation by winning both the First Prize and two Special Prizes at the eighth Rostropovich Competition twenty years ago, whilst Martin Helmchen has also been performing on the most prestigious international stages for two decades. They are partners both on and off the concert platform and are passionate advocates of chamber music. This anthology of Russian music for cello and piano is a journey through the most beautiful and intense pieces of the 20th century and will undoubtedly find a special place in the discography.","brand":"Alpha","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50001445781784,"sku":"3760014198274","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4420725-3383073.jpg?v=1745350563"}],"url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/collections\/new-recent-from-alpha-classics.oembed?page=2","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}