With his characteristic wit and quirkiness, Danish composer Poul Ruders has summed up his mission as a composer as being “To entertain, to enrich, and to disturb, not necessarily in that order”. Born in Ringsted, Denmark in 1949, Ruders achieved international fame with his opera The Handmaid‘s Tale (1996-1998), a work whose aching tenderness, grotesque irony, despair and timeliness has established a permanent place in the repertoire. Ruders’ own intuitive development as a composer has enabled him to create works which manage to be strikingly modern, yet avoiding any the cliches of European modernism, but above all, imbued with the power to speak to the emotions of an audience.

Sony Classical releases Juilliard String Quartet – The Early Columbia Recordings: Sony Classical is excited to present a newly remastered selection in 24bit of the earliest albums of this august American ensemble. Made between 1949 and 1956 in Columbia’s studio on Manhattan’s 30th St., these landmark recordings are mostly new to listeners…

Strong but delicate, deliberate but subtle, driven but supple, Masaaki Suzuki's 2005 recording of Bach's Italian Concerto and French Overture for harpsichord are quite convincing in their own distinctive way…

Little is known about Giuseppe Ferlendis who was appointed oboist at the court of Archbishop of Salzburg Prince Hieronymus Colloredo on April 1, 1777. But irrespective of whether Ferlendis was a profound or average musician, his appearance in Salzburg orchestra inspired young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to create one of his rare compositions with solo oboe: Concerto in C major KV 314…