Gabriel Yared composed most of the music for the soundtrack of one of 1996's most acclaimed dramas, which was largely performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields; John Constable (on solo piano) and Marta Sebestyen (vocals) are also featured. Yared's score is mostly typical wide-screen epic stuff–nothing special. More interesting are Hungarian folk singer Sebestyen's occasional contributions. A few period pop/jazz cuts by Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, and Fred Astaire are interspersed throughout, and are most likely more effective on screen than on disc, where they juxtapose uncomfortably with the orchestral instrumental pieces.

Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields present these highly acclaimed world premiere recordings of orchestral works by Gordon Getty. Although most of Getty’s output is vocal music, he has also written for orchestra, chamber ensembles and solo piano and this programme showcases six orchestral pieces, including the overture from his first opera, "Plump Jack".

A masterpiece of moviemaking that won eight Academy Awards, Amadeus is one of the few films about music that presents it with absolute fidelity to its maker's intentions. When producer Saul Zaentz, director Milos Forman, and writer Peter Shaffer asked Sir Neville Marriner to conduct for the 1984 film, he told them yes, "Under one condition, that not one note of Mozart would be changed".

In the early 1970's, Marriner was among the first conductors to record Mozart's early symphonies in stereo, a fairly startling and groundbreaking enterprise for the time. Back then, most people had pretty much disregarded most of the composer's youthful writing in favor of the big later pieces. Marriner showed the world the worth of some of the earlier works. PentaTone Classics unearthed the original master tapes for a number of these Marriner recordings that Philips Records had originally done in the Quadraphonic format but never released that way. PentaTone remastered them in a series of four volumes. This first volume containing the Symphony in G, and the Symphonies Nos. 7a, 12, and 18. Needless to say, Marriner and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields perform the works with their customary sprightly vigor and refined taste, and the PentaTone engineers remastered the Philips recordings in audio highly reminiscent of how many of us recall Philips discs sounding in the early 70s.

In the early 1970's, Marriner was among the first conductors to record Mozart's early symphonies in stereo, a fairly startling and groundbreaking enterprise for the time. Back then, most people had pretty much disregarded most of the composer's youthful writing in favor of the big later pieces. Marriner showed the world the worth of some of the earlier works. PentaTone Classics unearthed the original master tapes for a number of these Marriner recordings that Philips Records had originally done in the Quadraphonic format but never released that way. PentaTone remastered them in a series of four volumes. This second volume containing the Symphonies 20, 45, 47, 51 in D, and the Symphony 46 in C. Needless to say, Marriner and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields perform the works with their customary sprightly vigor and refined taste, and the PentaTone engineers remastered the Philips recordings in audio highly reminiscent of how many of us recall Philips discs sounding in the early 70s.

In the early 1970's, Marriner was among the first conductors to record Mozart's early symphonies in stereo, a fairly startling and groundbreaking enterprise for the time. Back then, most people had pretty much disregarded most of the composer's youthful writing in favor of the big later pieces. Marriner showed the world the worth of some of the earlier works. PentaTone Classics unearthed the original master tapes for a number of these Marriner recordings that Philips Records had originally done in the Quadraphonic format but never released that way. PentaTone remastered them in a series of four volumes. This third volume containing the Symphonies 7 & 8 in D, 9 in C and the Symphonies No. 19 in E flat. Needless to say, Marriner and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields perform the works with their customary sprightly vigor and refined taste, and the PentaTone engineers remastered the Philips recordings in audio highly reminiscent of how many of us recall Philips discs sounding in the early 70s.

In the early 1970's, Marriner was among the first conductors to record Mozart's early symphonies in stereo, a fairly startling and groundbreaking enterprise for the time. Back then, most people had pretty much disregarded most of the composer's youthful writing in favor of the big later pieces. Marriner showed the world the worth of some of the earlier works. PentaTone Classics unearthed the original master tapes for a number of these Marriner recordings that Philips Records had originally done in the Quadraphonic format but never released that way. PentaTone remastered them in a series of four volumes. This last volume containing the Symphonies 6, 48, 50, 51, 52 & 55. Needless to say, Marriner and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields perform the works with their customary sprightly vigor and refined taste, and the PentaTone engineers remastered the Philips recordings in audio highly reminiscent of how many of us recall Philips discs sounding in the early 70s.

Those inseparable twins, dress and identity, fell under the spotlight of the V&A’s Fashioning Masculinities. The exhibition’s galleries—Undressed, Overdressed, and Redressed—informed Oliver Zeffman’s choice of music for the first of his Music x Museums concerts. Recorded live in the V&A’s sublime Raphael Court, the performance opens with Lully’s Overture to Le bourgeois gentilhomme, a nod to the periwigged posturing of 17th-century Paris.

Atmospherically filmed amid the Raphael Cartoons in the V&A’s Raphael Court, this album is a treat for both ear and eye. British conductor Oliver Zeffman leads the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in a programme that wanders through time, perfectly complementing the glorious surroundings. Russian-born British violinist Viktoria Mullova joins the ASMF for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major in a performance that’s crisp, songful and wonderfully eloquent, and her Bach solos speak powerfully in such a striking setting. Zeffman conducts Honegger’s “Pastorale d’été” with a lovely sense of atmosphere, while Arvo Pärt’s timeless “Fratres” makes a huge impact with its stillness and deceptive simplicity.

Edo de Waart conducts the San Francisco Symphony for performances of Grieg's "Peer Gynt" Op. 23: Incidental music to Ibsen's Play and Sir Neville Marriner conducts for Holberg Suite, Op.40. This reissue series of classical music masterpieces by Esoteric has attracted a lot of attention, both for its uncompromising commitment to recreating the original master sound. This series marks the first hybrid SACD release of historical recording selections that have been mainstays of the catalog since their initial release.

George Frideric Handel's "Alcina", "Ariodante" and "Il pastor Fido" (The Faithful Shepherd) were cornerstone of Sir Thomas Beecham’s so-called ‘lollipops’ and are beautifully rendered here. These recordings represent some of Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields with Sir Neville Marriner's earliest, dating from 1970 and 1971.

Anyone who knows the series of piano concertos of Mozart with Brendel and Marriner knows of its importance and significance. Few pairings of conductor and pianist have so successfully navigated Mozart’s supreme masterpieces with such panache and style, and when these were released both critical opinion and public acclaim merged as if one voice to proclaim them the most sensational recorded issuances of these works ever accomplished. They were not entirely complete—and this is a shame. But the greats and almost-greats were, making them mandatory acquisitions. This release, one in Pentatone’s series dedicated to reissues of recordings originally made in four-channel surround sound for quadraphonics, is a real beauty, and self-recommending, one of two the company has released so far.