Renowned period-instrument violinist Giuliano Carmignola makes his first Mozart recording, and internationally acclaimed maestro Claudio Abbado records Mozart for the first time on period instruments! Abbado and Carmignola are long-standing collaborators and have performed Mozart together for some time; the album was born out of their feeling that it was time to commit their interpretations to disc. In addition to the five violin concertos, Carmignola teams with violist Danusha Waskiewicz on another audience favorite, the Sinfonia concertante. One of five releases celebrating Claudio Abbado's 75th birthday, this attractively priced two-disc set promises to be one of the most important Mozart recordings of the year.

Combination of all-time classical favorites in edgy interpretations and post classical pieces by leading composers, in brand new arrangements. Following the successes of Richter’s Vivaldi Recomposed, for the first time, Daniel has recorded the original Vivaldi Four Seasons! To complement the Four Seasons, the album includes a selection of short pieces that are dedicated to each months of the year, spanning from neo-classical hits by Aphex Twin, Nils Frahm, Max Richter or Chilly Gonzales to romantic pieces by Brahms and Schumann.

DAVID OISTRAHK TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto WIENIAWSKI: Etudes-Caprices Nos. 2, 4, 5 SARASATE: Navarra op. 33 David Oistrach Igor Oistr ach Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Staatskapelle Dresden Franz Konwitschny |A|D|D| 000289 477 8583 5 |G|B| Int. Release 02 Oct. 2009

Stéphane Grappelli (French pronunciation: [stefan ɡʁapɛli]; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997), born Stefano Grappelli, was a French-Italian jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands.

Amazon.com Editorial Reviews: In 1932, Menuhin was just 16 and at the very beginning of his international career when Elgar--then a grand old man in his 70s--asked the young virtuoso to record his Violin Concerto. Elgar himself conducted, and the rehearsals went so well that the composer reportedly canceled the last of them and took the young violinist out for a day at the races. The recording that resulted from this remarkable collaboration has remained a classic from the day it was issued. Elgar's conducting is typically direct and unfussy, while Menuhin really does play the pants off of what is without a doubt the longest and most tiring concerto in the romantic repertoire. Of course, the recorded sound is rather limited and no amount of audio restoration can change that, but fans of great violin playing will still find plenty to enthuse about. --David Hurwitz

Perlman also presents a personality performance, one which naturally brings out the individuality of his artistry. The LPO strings play with great refinement, and with a rather more intimate acoustic than in other versions, the result is both in scale and sharply defined'. Gramophone Magazine Itzhak Perlman, violin virtuoso, conductor, and master-instructor is widely considered as one of the preeminent violin virtuosi of the 20th century. He made his debut at Carnegie Hall in 1963 and won the prestigious Leventritt Competition in 1964. Soon afterward he began to tour extensively. In addition to an extensive recording career, he has made occasional guest appearances on American television, starting in the 1970s on shows such as The Tonight Show and Sesame Street, as well as playing at a number of functions at the White House. While primarily a solo artist, Perlman has performed with a number of other notable musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman, Isaac Stern, and Yuri Temirkanov at the 150th anniversary celebration of Tchaikovsky in Leningrad in December 1990. He has also performed (and recorded) with good friend and fellow Israeli violinist Pinchas Zukerman on numerous occasions over the years. The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season. "Winter" is peppered with silvery staccato notes from the high strings, calling to mind icy rain, whereas "Summer" evokes a thunderstorm in its final movement, which is why said movement is often dubbed Storm. The concertos were first published in 1725 as part of a set of twelve concerti, Vivaldi's Op. 8, entitled Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest between Harmony and Invention). EMI MASTERS celebrates the full glory of the greatest performances from the world's greatest catalogue of recorded music. Digitally remastered at Abbey Road Studios direct from the original master tapes, these classic recordings emerge with unparalleled immediacy. You will be left in no doubt that you are in the presence of legendary musicians and ageless interpretations.