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Maurizio Pollini's late 1970s film recordings of Beethoven Piano Concertos 3 and 5; Mozart Piano Concertos 19 and 23; and Brahms Piano Concerto 2 have it all: great pianism, beautiful playing by the Vienna Philharmonic, magnificent conducting by Karl Bohm (Beethoven, Mozart) and Claudio Abbado (Brahms), all adding up to one thing: a beautiful experience. These DVDs are a feast for the ears: great audio, and the eyes: great video. The 1970s Unitel films used in this DG release have held up very well in the vaults: there are no glitches or imperfections in the picture. The camera work is also excellent, and serves the music being performed. There is no audience, and the recording venue: Vienna's Musikvereien, has wonderful acoustics - one of the best concert halls in the civilized world. It was worth alot to me to see Karl Bohm smile at Maurizio Pollini at the beginning of I, of Mozart's Piano Concerto 19 with it's humorous, scherzo like theme which begins the concerto. Highly recommended!

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Harpist Giovanna Pessi has previously been heard on ECM recordings with Christian Wallumrod and with Rolf Lislevand. On her first leader date for ECM she introduces a unique project of old and new songs in which 17th century pieces by Henry Purcell are interspersed with 20th century ballads of Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake and 21st century songs of Susanna Wallumrod, all rendered timeless by the ‘early music’ instrumentation and Susanna’s pure, understated vocal style.

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The Hungarian Dances (German: Ungarische Tänze) by Johannes Brahms, are a set of 21 lively dance tunes based mostly on Hungarian themes, completed in 1869. They vary from about a minute to four minutes in length. They are among Brahms' most popular works, and were certainly the most profitable for him. "The Violin Sonata No. 5" in F major, Opus 24, is a violin sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is often known as the "Spring" sonata (Frühlingssonate), and was published in 1801. Its dedicatee was Count Moritz von Fries, a patron to whom the fourth violin sonata, the string quintet of the same year, and the seventh symphony were also dedicated.

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Honegger was keen to reach the widest possible public while retaining his own musical ideas. He had already collaborated with numerous distinguished writers for the theater and had supplied scores for films, such as Abel Gance's Napoléon. All of this experience made readied him for a collaboration with William Aguet when Christoph Colomb was proposed for Radio Lausanne in 1940.

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Prolific Korean composer Lim June-hee has composed everything from musicals to electronic music and writes in an accessible, broadly nationalist idiom. She succeeds is fusing the unique timbres of Korean traditional instruments with a western sense of harmony and development, and as a result, is one of Korea's most popular modern composers.

2011 release from the Polish Electro-Acoustic musician. Jacaszek has been exploring a new, resolutely modern chapter in Eastern Europe's long, storied love affair with classical music. This album is marked by a noticeable tug between melancholy and beauty, like it's hovering in some gaseous grey area between both, at once both insular and extroverted. His creations are painstakingly crafted collages of electronic textures and baroque instrumentation, harpsichords being swarmed by woolly static one minute and pulled apart by billowing wind the next. Ambient music is rarely so sonically challenging.

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The most impressive aspect of this production is the staging and customs. The wide scenario is wonderfully used. In fact is a pleasure (as much as Macbeth can be a pleasure) to watch. The combination of black (darkness) and red (blood) is just perfect. The witches are very well choreographed and Banquo's ghost appearance with the touch of yellow makes a compelling scene. This production allows focusing more on the characters and their humanity (good and bad) rather than the gloom surroundings. It is a timeless staging using modern techniques. It is the best of the production. By A. Lupu "A. Lupu" (Rochester, MN USA)

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Liszt's works and his influence have great significance for the history of music. He was not only one of the most brilliant instrumental virtuosos of all time, but also one of the most distinguished piano teachers the world has ever known. All Chopin's waltzes are typical of the new piano style he created. Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony enchants the listener through its charming cheerfulness and the recollection of Italian sun.

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