Classical / Opera CDs

From Siegmund's stormy entrance to Wotan's sorrowful exit, Die Walkure is the most dramatic opera in Wagner's Ring cycle. Here, this 4-CD set with a star cast, James Levine produces "the maximum dramatic significance from the orchestral music" -Gramophone -

Britain's most exciting soprano, Laura Wright, is back with her second solo studio album, ‘Glorious.’ In 2011, Laura became one of the biggest selling classical artists in the UK, out-selling some of the world's biggest classical names. Now aged 21, Laura has sold over 1 million albums to date. ...

This magnificent collection features the greatest stars of opera including Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez, Cecilia Bartoli, Andrea Bocelli and many more. A number of exciting new artists are showcased, including ElînaGaranèa, Joseph Calleja and Aleksandra Kurza...

Classical 2012 allows you to sample some of the finest new recordings of the year and introduce yourself to some of the most exciting new talents in the world of classical music today. Discover just why artists such as pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, guitarist Milos, and singers Aleksander Kurz...

These encore pieces by Scriabin, Gluck, Rachmaninov, Chopin and others will enthrall Wang's fans with challenging technical demands and the bravura precision of her execution. The melding of her legendary technical skills with her interpretive intelligence transforms this album of treats into a prof...

"A breath of fresh air, this recital... This is the best debut disc for a long time" - Opera magazine

A poignant three hour musical journey throughout Sacred music from the Medieval Gregorian chants to XXth Century Barber's Agnus Dei.

"Kennedy has shrewdly augmented the regular concerto coupling of Bruch and Mendelssohn with the rare Schubert work, and the result is a generous issue which on every front can be warmly recommended for exceptionally strong and positive performances, vividly recorded." (Gramophone)

After twenty-seven years of world-wide performance and recording, The Sixteen is recognized as one of the world's greatest vocal ensembles. Its special reputation for performing masterpieces of the Renaissance and a diversity of 20th century music is drawn from the passions of conductor and founder,...

After twenty-seven years of world-wide performance and recording, The Sixteen is recognized as one of the world's greatest vocal ensembles. Its special reputation for performing masterpieces of the Renaissance and a diversity of 20th century music is drawn from the passions of conductor and founder,...

Recorded at Auckland Town Hall, New Zealand on 5 and 12 July and 18 September 2011. Musica Sacra’s debut performance was a Christmas concert in December 1998 at St Michael’s, Remuera, and since then the choir’s annual Christmas concert, almost always on the last Saturday before Christmas, has bec...

While Kiri Te Kanawa was still preparing for that career-defining debut as the Countess, she made a first Mozart disc under Colin Davis: a collection of sacred music, including the Solemn Vespers, KV 339, with its serene setting of ‘Laudate Dominum’, and Exsultate, jubilate. The Countess became the ...

SMM: Context is the first release in Ghostly International's new yearly compilation series of evocative, exploratory music. In 2003, Ghostly International introduced SMM, an unknown acronym used to evaporate the already unspooling musical boundaries between classical minimalism, electronic and dr...

The latest boxset in the Latest & Greatest range, Latest & Greatest Love Songs From The Musicals takes in musical hits from the West End (We Will Rock You, Phantom, Never Forget) & Broadway, (Evita, Jersey Boys) to film (South Pacific, West Side Story, Mamma Mia). Plus numbers from new...

'Bring Him Home' – a timeless classic from one of the world's best-loved musicals, Les Miserables, which is currently celebrating its 25th Anniversary year! It is also the title and lead track from tenor and Les Miserables star Alfie Boe's debut album for Decca Records. Bring Him Home is a ...

Following on from the popular Classics For Dinner comes the second edition of the perfect dinner party music. Featuring Hayley Westenra, Katherine Jenkins, Elizabeth Marvelly, Jacqueline du Pre, Sarah Brightman and more

'Hitman Returns' was filmed before a sold out crowd last year at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The lineup of talent, lead by Foster as maestro of ceremonies, includes performances by Seal, Donna Summer, Martina McBride, Earth, Wind & Fire, Natalie Cole, Ruben Studdard, All-4-One,'Glee' star Cha...

Following on her 2008 Grammy® winning Schoenberg/Sibelius album, Hilary Hahn releases the world-premiere recording of Jennifer Higdon's 2010 Pulitzer prize-winning composition. Hahn couples two idioms by bookending her new album with the romantic Violin Concerto in D major of...

Soprano Natalie Dessay, conductor Emanuelle Haïm and composer George Frideric Handel make an established – and admired – team. Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare is a new role for Dessay at the Paris Opéra in early 2011, and it is in these arias that the Egyptian queen show...

This 2CD mid-price set, drawn from the catalogues of EMI Classics and Virgin Classics, presents a selection of the bestloved and most popular ballet music by the great composers, performed by the world’s leading artists.    

Tchaikovsky’s most famous work, The Nutcracker, is presented in this stunning new recording by the world’s greatest orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, under the baton of their celebrated conductor Sir Simon Rattle. This musical fairytale follows Clara and her unusual princ...

Philippe Jaroussky continues his rediscovery of long-forgotten arias for high male voice with this collection of music by Antonio Caldara, a contemporary of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, who was the first composer to set many librettos by the great Metastasio and Zeno. This is Jaroussky&rsq...

The Platinum Collection brings together Russell Watson's best loved recordings, alongside rarities from his Decca years and two exclusive BBC performances, which appear on CD for the first time here. Since finding stardom in the early 2000s, Russell Watson has gone on to become perhaps the b...

Hélène Grimaud has conceived another programme of works spanning a wide range of emotions and styles, yet all linked by their origin in that singular musical line of succession: the great composers of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Her new album bears the title Résonance...

Today's leading bel canto tenor, and one of the world's biggest opera stars, celebrates this Christmas season with a very personal choice of sacred arias and songs, including favourites such as Panis Angelicus, Ave Maria and O Holy Night. As well as the the glorious coloratura for which...

The story of Australian singer Mirusia Louwerse's discovery by André Rieu is the stuff of “dreams come true”. Of Dutch origins but raised in Brisbane, Mirusia's gorgeous stage presence and effortless soprano voice has tackled a range of repertoire from Mozart's Countess ...

American composer Eric Whitacre has been described as “the hottest thing in choral music” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and prompted The Times to say “If you've not heard of the American phenomenon that is Eric Whitacre, you will hear of him now.” This year Whitacre be...

Breathe is the new CD from Dublin born flautist William Dowdall, released by NZ’s Atoll Records. William Dowdall’s special interest in contemporary music led him to develop a workshop based on contemporary solo flute music by Irish composers, which has been presented in Europe, U...

Magdalena Kožená explores the early Italian Baroque music of Monteverdi and his contemporaries with rewarding results. Inspired by the improvisational nature of much of this music, Kožená reveals yet another aspect of her musical personality.  Teamed with the six stri...

'The Magic Of Mantovani' is a two CD collection featuring forty tracks from one of the light orchestra genre's most popular conductors. Mantovani's celebrated cascading strings technique - as heard on 'Charmaine' - earned him plaudits throughout the sixties and seventies until his dea...

Atoll present a CD of the Inaugural Concert of the Klais Organ of the Auckland Town Hall. Recorded 21st March 2010, this new CD features the inaugural performance of Symphony in C composed for the occasion by Auckland City Organist, Dr John Wells. This CD also features the thrilling combi...

Bach Collegium Japan & Masaaki Suzuki present a compilation of some of Suzuki’s personal favourites among the choral movements from J.S. Bach’s cantatas – A Choral Year With J.S. Bach. From Advent to Reformation Day – the Lutheran liturgical calendar set to music ...

 Schwingt freudig euch empor, BWV36; Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der soll erniedriget werden, BWV47; Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende, BWV27 Appendix: Willkommen! will ich sagen… (alternative [organ] version of alto aria from BWV27) Bach Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki Hana...

Jonas Kaufmann sings arias from 'verismo' operas - music-dramas that took the expression of human emotions to new heights. “He has everything: intelligence, musicianship, and resourceful technique” wrote The New York Times recently, now Kaufmann brings his celebrated style a...

Soloists: Plácido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, Cecilia Bartoli, José Carreras, Maria Callas, Roberto Alagna.   Ensemble: Various artists   Conductor: Various

Julia Fischer plays Paganini. Now that really isn't a surprise; the Caprices make perfect encores – fiendishly difficult, supremely virtuosic, and not too long. Julia Fischer has played the Caprices as encores dozens of times, especially the famous no.? 24, which is the most accessible and mus...

A completely new 2-CD compilation featuring a host of internationally acclaimed stars in a selection that has something for everyone – from the great American songbook and the Broadway classics of Rodgers & Hammerstein to today's hits of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stevie Wonder, and ABBA - the g...

Bridget Douglas & Carolyn Mills are Flight & this is their self-titled debut album, for Atoll Records. The duo has performed as Flight for many years & their performances, live or on radio, have been praised by critics & audiences all over the country. Flight showcases the pair...

The king of "non-stop dancing", James Last (also known as "Hansi", born Hans Last on 17 April 1929 in Bremen) is the quintessential Big Band Conductor and Arranger. His career spans 50 years, and he has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. 80 Greatest Hits celebrates the ex...