Boléro, composed by Maurice Ravel in 1928, has always captured the world’s attention. Repetitive, mesmeric, colourful and thrilling, it has also proved a seminal work, influencing composers over the past century. Now it lends its name to a film inspired by the life of Ravel: directed by Anne Fontaine and starring Raphaël Personnaz.

Although neglected by some, Giovanni Battista Viotti was an international violin superstar at the turn of the nineteenth century, travelling throughout Europe and holding high offices in the most prestigious musical institutions. This recording by Yehudi Menuhin presents Viotti’s most famous violin concertos, notably the sixteenth in a version arranged by Mozart himself (who added brass parts). It also includes the digital premiere of a lovely duet featuring Gioconda De Vito.

Written to exalt the glory of God and to facilitate Lutheran worship, Johann Sebastian Bach’s sacred cantatas stand among the highest achievements of Western musical art.

In the seventeenth century, the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice took in young orphan girls who received advanced musical instruction. The concerts given there attracted visitors from all over the world, curious to hear these divine voices which remained invisible, since the girls performed hidden behind the grilles of the chapel gallery. Vivaldi became Maestro de’Concerti of the Pietà in 1714, and it was his pupils who performed his famous Nisi Dominus.

Michael Haydn, younger brother of the great Josef, and Georg Druschetsky, Kapellmeister and oboist in the grenadiers, were especially famous exponents of the wind band medium. Celebrating the mariage of wind and voice, these mass-settings are accompanied only by woodwind, brass and organ - a combination of timbres, Leopold Mozart maintained, 'close to the human voice' where 'eveything flows'…

Smaller concertos for piano and modest orchestral forces were a feature of British composition in the first half of the 20th century. Often they were written for a special occasion, and typically vanished into oblivion thereafter. During the COVID period we were looking for things to record with small numbers of players, and stumbled across this treasury: short concertos written for entertainment that don't outstay their welcome.

London Concertante presents a sensational evening at the opera with an array of the finest opera arias and overtures, performing works from Puccini, Verdi, Rossini, and Mozart. Enjoy some of the best from Madame Butterfly, Turandot, Tosca, The Barber of Seville, Carmen, Così fan tutte and so much more.

Just in time for his 80th birthday, Daniel Barenboim was honoured with the Gramophone Award 2022 for his life's work. The career of the famous Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor began early, Wilhelm Furtwängler already said about him: "The eleven-year-old Daniel Barenboim is a phenomenon". Later, as chief conductor, Barenboim led world-class orchestras such as the Orchestre de Paris, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and, since 1992, the Staatskapelle Berlin. With the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the UN peace ambassador united musicians from Israel, Palestine and the Arab states. As a soloist, the pianist has worked with renowned conductors; with Sir John Barbirolli, for example, he recorded Brahms’ piano concertos. Barenboim's discography is impressive; with his first wife, the cellist Jacqueline Du Pré, he formed a musical dream team. Other legendary recordings of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Bruckner and Wagner were made with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Berlin Philharmonic, among others.

Amghar: The Godfatdher of Touareg Music - VOL. 1 is the first career retrospective of the legendary, late Tuareg innovator Abdallah Oumbadougou, who is considered the Godfather of the Tuareg / Desert Blues genre and was a primary influence of current artists Bombino and Mdou Mocktar. It features 14 tracks, newly remastered by 5 time GRAMMY winning engineer Michael Graves, and includes 6 unreleased, never before heard tracks. The gorgeous Double Vinyl package also includes extensive historical liner notes from Tuareg expert and historian Andy Morgan and lyric translations in Tamashek, French and English. The cover portrait of the artist was created by Nigerian born illustrator Diana Ejaita who is notable for her extensive cover work with the New Yorker magazine. 'He was like a father to us. Like our first inspiration' - BOMBINO