The versatility of the suite form proved well suited to Johann Sebastian Bach in his instrumental works, and the English Suites are no exception. These are distinct from Bach's other suites with... more

Written over a period of 18 years, Rachmaninov's sets of Preludes are a mirror and a record of his compositional development. With so rich a variety of character, color, texture, and mood, no two... more

Revered for his incomparable Lieder, Franz Schubert was also an avid opera-goer who yearned, largely in vain, for success as a composer of stage works.

Leon (Ludwig) Minkus (1826-1917) Don Quixote (Ballet in Three Acts) performed by the Sofia National Orchestra conducted by Nayden Todorov. Recorded at the National Palace of Culture, Sofia, Bulgaria... more

Antonio Bazzini, born in Brescia in 1818, was one of the great violinist-composers of the 19th century. After encouragement from Paganini following an encounter in 1836, he lived the life of a... more

An important marker in Debussy' compositional development, the Fantaisie reflects something of the influence of Cesar Franck' Symphonic Variations yet embodies his own new aesthetic. Unpublished in... more

Of the nine violin concertos at one time ascribed to Haydn only four were genuine, and one of the four is lost. With their considerable use of the relatively higher register of the violin, chains of... more

Brahms' first connection with choral music came in 1857, and his first appointment in Vienna, in 1863, was to conduct the Singakademie.

Once dubbed 'the French Mendelssohn', Camille Saint-Saëns was a prodigiously gifted composer of sophisticated and appealing music much of which has been unjustly neglected in recent times. His three... more

Charismatic young conductor Vasily Petrenko launches his Shostakovich Symphonies series with the Eleventh, a highly charged depiction of the 'Bloody Sunday' massacre of over two hundred peaceful... more