"The four works here, all recorded live, demonstrate [Adès's] exceptional range, from the swirling, grant ambitions of Tevot ... to the louche and sexy suite from Powder Her Face. The Three Studies from Couperin cast 18th-century music in a vivid new light and, in the violin concerto, Anthony Marwood is an ideal soloist: sensitive, wistful and powerfully melancholy." The Observer

"[In Tevot] Adès takes the listener on a vivid sonic journey, juxtaposing tensile motifs on woodwinds, strings and percussion with constantly moving, seductively textured blocks of sound...This recording finds the Berliners in scintillating form." ***** Financial Times

"[Tevot is] a magnificent orchestral journey through chaos to consolation, exultantly delivered by Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic." The Times

This month, Libera, the boy band with a stunningly original sound, release their new album, PEACE, which is available on CD and digital download.

Only on Facebook & YouTube, watch their video to celebrate the release of PEACE.

EMI Classics notes, with sadness, the death of the great British tenor Philip Langridge, whose opera, oratorio and recital performances graced all the world’s great stages.

At the Royal Opera House, where Langridge performed many times since his debut there in 1983, Music Director Antonio Pappano said, "Philip Langridge was one of the most admired artists by every member of the Royal Opera House family. He was family to us... his passing is truly a big loss for the music world."

Langridge’s last performance was in January this year as the Witch in Richard Jones’s production of Hänsel und Gretel at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The production was captured on film and released on DVD by EMI Classics in 2008.

EMI Classics has teamed up with Classic FM and Virgin Experience Days to offer music lovers a chance to win a copy of Libera’s new album ‘Peace’ and tickets to a champagne summer concert. Five runners-up will also win copies of the album.

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week this week is Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), whose 200th birthday falls on 1 March. Click on the link below to view all available Chopin recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

"Chopin, the bicentenary of whose birthday occurs next week on March 1, has already received some choice presents of CDs of his own music, and this one is particularly poignant. … The varied programme Tharaud has chosen … is linked with memories of early piano lessons and his entry to the Paris Conservatoire together with more private thoughts about friends and loved ones: it is, as the title suggests, a personal diary. Moreover, he plays the music with palpable affection and sensitivity, gilded with a panache and passion … Whether on a broad canvas or on a miniature one, Tharaud’s feel for tonal colouring and his eloquence of expression are a perfect match for this inspiring, kaleidoscopic music." ***** The Daily Telegraph

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week this week is Leoš Janáček (1854-1928). Click on the link below to view all available Janáček recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue

CLASSIC FM Magazine's March 2010 issue comes with a special EMI Classics-branded Chopin disc, including OpenDisc software, with works drawn from our 200th anniversary Complete Chopin set.

Following the news of the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010, the Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle and pianist Mitsuko Uchida decided to dedicate their concert on 20 February to the victims of the earthquake. Music lovers all over the world can watch the concert online in the Digital Concert Hall at www.berliner-philharmoniker.de. All proceeds from the concert and the Digital Concert Hall webcast will be donated to UNICEF’s emergency assistance for children in Haiti.

The programme consists of Ligeti’s San Francisco Polyphony, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2.

“We are giving the concert on 20 February to raise money for victims of the catastrophe in Haiti,” said Sir Simon Rattle, asking people to watch the concert (which is sold out in the Philharmonie) live in the Digital Concert Hall. “As the proceeds from every online ticket will go directly to UNICEF, please join us, enjoy the concert and help the relief effort at the same time!”

The Berliner Philharmoniker has been an international UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2007.

This Spotify playlist sets the perfect mood with some of classical music’s most sensual, passionate melodies - Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Puccini’s O mio babbino caro, Rusalka’s Song to the Moon, Debussy’s Clair de Lune, and many more, all performed by the finest artist from the EMI Classics/Virgin Classics roster!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

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"This is sensational: Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Rotterdam will surely be one of those partnerships that magically adds up to more than the sum of its orchestral parts. There is a suppleness and vivid characterisation in the sound; Ravel’s orchestration sparkles without ever sounding merely sumptuous. I defy you to not gasp with sheer pleasure at the build-up of the Daphnis suite, and the attention to detail and transparency in the evocative Mother Goose suite is spine-tingling. Brilliantly played and superbly recorded."

Nicholas Kenyon – The Observer

“Among the constellation of young cellists, Gautier Capuçon shines brightly … Here he teams up with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev for performances of two Russian works of very different temperaments … The lustre with which Tchaikovsky graces [the Variations on a Rococo Theme] is immediately captured by the Mariinsky Orchestra’s radiant tone. Capuçon … does so with a blend of impeccable taste, Romantic ardour and technical aplomb. …Capuçon’s interpretation of the slow section of the scherzo [of Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante] is one of the loveliest imaginable, but this is also a finely proportional performance that traces and communicates with innate understanding the music’s emotional flux. Whether quizzical, rapturous, pensive or demonstrative, Capuçon has full measure of it here in a performance of impressive stature.”

***** The Daily Telegraph

EMI Classics / Virgin Classics are proud to have received two awards at the 52nd Annual Grammys, held last night in Los Angeles.

The Virgin Classics recording of Britten’s Billy Budd, featuring Ian Bostridge and Jonathan Lemalu amongst the soloists and conducted by Daniel Harding, won Best Opera Recording while Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra went to the EMI Classics release of Evgeny Kissin’s recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 with the Philharmonia Orchestra / Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Many congratulations to our winners!

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week this week is William Walton (1902-1983). Click on the link below to view all available William Walton recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

"DiDonato is in irresistible form in Armida's remarkable final scene, running the gamut from helplesness to vengeful fury in a heady mix of top notes, flames and fioritura ... It's difficult to imagine a more satisfying Rossini recital coming along for some time." - Opera Magazine, February 2010

Meanwhile, a feature article in The Daily Telegraph looks back at the night DiDonato broke her leg onstage at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on the opening night of Il barbiere di Siviglia in July 2009 and forward to her recital at The Wigmore Hall on January 28 in a programme of music either from or inspired by Italy.

Andreas Brantelid's recording of the Chopin Cello Concerto, Piano Trio and Grand Duo with pianist Marianna Shirinyan and violinist Vilde Frang is "Classical CD of the Week" in The Daily Telegraph of 23 January 2010.

"The young Danish cellist Andreas Brantelid ... is joined by the ideally matched Armenian-born pianist Marianna Shirinyan and, in the Trio, by the Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang for performances of remarkable flair and exceptional poise. The Trio ... comes across with discerningly imagined proportion and balance, its melodies beautifully floated, the instrumental colours subtly blended. The dance rhythms of the finale leap from the page in playing that has sinew and delicacy.

Brantelid comes more to the fore in the Sonata and in the Grand Duo, and in harmony with Shirinyan, does so with terrific panache and innate sensibility and with a tone that is both burnished and malleable. ... His interpretations ... reveal a stylistic insight, elegance and emotional power to match his striking technical aplomb. This is an imaginative and fruitful combination of young talents on a disc that will be relished long after the bicentenary year is over. "

Antonio Pappano has been nominated in the Choral category of the 2010 BBC Music Magazine Awards, the only classical music awards in which the main categories are voted for by the public.

At www.bbcmusicmagazine.com/awards you will find specially-produced videos and audio extracts from each of the recordings to help you chose your favourites. Voting begins today and ends Sunday 28 February 2010. The winners will be announced at the BBC Music Magazine Awards ceremony on Tuesday 13 April at Kings Place.

All voters will be entered into a prize draw for one of three award-winning Yamaha MCS-1330 hi-fi systems, with iPod docks and Yamaha Piano high-polish speakers, as well as all 18 nominated discs.

Vilde Frang, whose debut album on EMI Classics is released this week, was featured today on Women's Hour on BBC Radio 4. Listen to her interview with Jane Garvey, hear excerpts from her new CD and a live performance in the studio.The link will be active for the next seven days.

This afternoon, Vilde is featured on 'In Tune' with Sean Rafferty on BBC Radio 3 at 5:15 p.m. This programme will also be available online for the next seven days.

“Yundi Li, the brilliant young Chinese pianist … has proved a technically astounding pianist who is by turns elegant and rambunctious, coolly expressive and white hot.” (The New York Times)

EMI Classics has signed the “superlative young Chinese pianist” Yundi, formerly known as Yundi Li, winner of the 14th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Yundi’s first EMI release will be the complete Chopin Nocturnes, released in March 2010 to commemorate the composer’s 200th birthday. Yundi and EMI Classics together plan to record the complete works for solo piano by Chopin.

Yundi performs an all-Chopin recital at London's Royal Festival Hall on March 16, 2010

Alan Titchmarsh and Myleene Klass present a new series in which eight chart-topping singers attempt to perform well-known opera songs accompanied by a full live orchestra. Over the next six weeks, the viewing public gets to decide who stays in the competition. The contestants will have the benefit of tuition from mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins and tenor Rolando Villazón.

Celebrities inlcude: include Alex James, Bernie Nolan, Danny Jones, Darius Campbell, Jimmy Osmond, Kym Marsh, Vanessa White and Marcella Detroit. Premiere - Friday 15th January on ITV1 from 9:00pm to 10:30pm

EMI Classics's new signing Vilde Frang, whose debut CD is released this month, will perform at FOYLES – 113/119 Charing Cross Road, London on Tuesday 19 January 2010 (18:30 – 19:30)

Tickets are free. To reserve a place, email events@foyles.co.uk

Vilde Frang's first recording features the Sibelius Violin Concerto and three Humoresques and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, recorded live with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and conductor Thomas Søndergård. Vilde’s recording is a WDR co-production with support from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.

“Ms. Frang is a refined and polished player.” (The New York Times)

BBC Music Magazine's January 2010 issue awards five stars to Joyce DiDonato's Rossini album "Colbran, the Muse."

"Every Generation yearns for its own Rossini heroine and Joyce DiDonato seems an answer to our prayers. ... This is an artist who moves between registers with grace and skill, whose legato is seamless and whose tone is pearly. ... Then there's that hushed quality to DiDonato's singing; a thrilling sensation that she's holding back. ... Conductor Edoardo Muller is the perfect partner showing DiDonato off to her best advantage."

In a five-star review for Vivica Genaux's "Vivaldi: Pyrotechnics" CD, BBC Music Magazine writes, "This disc is a delight ... Genaux is a technically accomplished and warmly communicative artist. ... [In] this well contrasted programme, ... Genaux manages its remarkably wide compass and coloratura with seeming effortlessness... Those looking for first-class fireworks need look no further."

“Yannick Nézet-Séguin extracted the maximum impact from this collection of Ravel waltzes and miniatures.”

"If you like Christmas music, you’ll love Karl Jenkins’s Stella Natalis. Carol singing meets Strictly Come Dancing. … this up-beat seasonal sequence is as Christmassy as a box of Quality Street.”

“This recital of Bach, Janáček, Beethoven and Schumann attests to the intellectual power, profound emotional response and keen imagination that Anderszewski’s playing conveys.”

Reuters UK website focusses on new recordings from opera divas and features new Virgin Classics releases from Diana Damrau and Joyce DiDonato.

“Powerful ensemble performances are interspersed with stunning solos, while the dynamic shifts between haunting, sinister and turbulent are expertly negotiated throughout.”

FACEBOOK VIDEO EXCLUSIVE - A Frenchman in St Petersburg! … Gautier Capuçon joins Valery Gergiev (making his Virgin Classics debut) and the Mariinsky Orchestra in works by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev. Only available on Facebook!

release date: JANUARY 2010

The following EMI Classics recordings have been named in The Sunday Times's list of the 100 Best CDs of 2009.

• Antonio Pappano – Puccini: Madama Butterfly

• Yannick Nezet-Seguin – Ravel: Orchestral Works

• Piotr Anderszewski – Live at Carnegie Hall

• Antonio Pappano – Verdi: Requiem Mass

• Simon Rattle – Brahms: The Symphonies

Violinist Sarah Chang talks to Kirsty Lang on BBC Radio 4's 'Front Row' programme about her latest recording of the Bruch and the Brahms Violin Concertos and her 20-year career.

“When it’s all performed by a superb choir like Tenebrae, with the help of the velvet-voiced soprano Kate Royal and the virtuosic trumpeter Alison Balsom, it’s sure to hit the Yuletide target it’s aimed at.” - Metro

Nominations for the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards were announced by The Recording Academy and reflected the best and brightest over the past year in music.

The Virgin Classics release Britten: Billy Budd earned a Grammy nomination in the categories of Best Engineered Album and Classical and Best Opera Recording. The opera features exclusive EMI artist Ian Bostridge, a previous Grammy Award-winning soloist in the Opera Recording category.

John Fraser is a previous Grammy nominee in the Producer of the Year category. This year he is nominated for his work on three albums for EMI Classics and one album for Virgin Classics.

David Frost is nominated for Producer of the Year which includes his work on two EMI Classics albums, An American Journey (Eroica Trio) and Mozart: Piano Concertos 21 & 22 (Jonathan Biss & Orpheus Chamber Orchestra)

Three-time Grammy Award winner Sir Simon Rattle earns a nomination in the Best Orchestral Performance category for his work with the Berlin Philharmonic on Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique. Rattle has recently renewed his relationship with the renowned Berlin Philharmonic until 2018; in addition to continuing his legacy with EMI for another four years. Sir Simon and the Berlin Philharmonic have just wrapped an acclaimed US tour which included well-received stops at New York's Carnegie Hall and L.A.'s Disney Hall.

Previous Grammy Award-winning pianist Evgeny Kissin earns a nomination for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra) for his work on Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3.

Three-time Grammy Award-winning pianist Martha Argerich earns another nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance for Schumann/Bartok: The Berlin Recital.

"The nominations this year truly reflect the talented community of music makers who represent some of the highest levels of excellence in their respective fields," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy.

GRAMMY ballots for the final round of voting will be mailed on December 16 to the voting members of The Recording Academy. The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on "GRAMMY Sunday," January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles

The College of King's College, Cambridge and their new Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols CD is the subject of the cover story in the January 2010 issue Classical FM magazine . The CD is featured in the magazine's ‘Christmas Crackers’ festive round-up page.

"The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols provides a rare moment for listeners of all faiths and none to pause, reflect on childhood's innocence and escape the season's commercial pressures. Small wonder that the King's service, both excellent and inclusive, has set the standard for other great churches and choirs to follow."

The January 2010 issue of Classic FM magazine awards top marks and Editor's Choice status to Ingrid Fliter's new Chopin Waltzes CD.

“Fliter gets right to the heart of Chopin’s Waltzes, elevating them to a distinguished new level … vivid, spontaneous, immediate, full of grace and wit …. Her feel for voicing and texture is enhanced by her glowing, transparent tone"

“It seemed unlikely that golden-throated mezzo Joyce DiDonato would be able to trump her sensational Handel disc, but trump it she does with this collection … DiDonato’s technique is flawless: scales, trills and long phrases pour out of her with ease. But she’s also one of these once-in-a-generation singers who can invest all of the coloratura fiddle faddle with real emotional depth. An astonishing artist at her peak.” - Classic FM magazine, January 2010

The Sunday Times's Hugh Canning named Yannick Nézet-Séguin's Ravel disc CD of the Week and gave it five stars. "I've not heard a more gorgeously played orchestral disc all year," he wrote.

More from his review: "Nézet-Séguinis a born Ravellian. ... From the outset of the 'Lever du jour' section of the second Daphnis suite,Nézet-Séguin's ear for Ravel's evocation of the twilit moments before dawn and the spectacular sunrise, are fabulous. He makes the Rotterdam Orchestra sound world-class here; in the Pantomime, the palette of colours he finds in the flute section alone is ravishing, and I've heard few more exhilarating Bacchanales on disc. In 'La Valse,' Nézet-Séguin insinuates catastrophe into its climax. A charming, witty, instrumentally fastidious account of the Mother Goose suite completes the programme."

A major feature in The Daily Telegraph on November 26,

in the run-up to the London premiere (on 4 December) of Leif Ove Andsnes's and Robin Rhode's 'Pictures Reframed', describes their "extraordinary re-imagining of Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition' ". A link enables readers to watch a video about Andsnes's and Rhode's "brave new marriage between piano recital and video installation".

"DiDonato's pearly tone and easy coloratura make this difficult music sound effortless. She sports ... brilliant high staccato notes and long-breathed cantilena lines. ... She makes the strongest possible case for a revival of these marvellous operas. This is outstanding Rossini singing by any standards. - The Sunday Times

Joyce DiDonato is on thrilling form in this devoted dedication to Colbran: DiDonato is proving herself one of the most delightful artists of our time. She sings with a rare purity of tone, ease on the high Bs, an impressive degree of technical skill and lively powers of characterisation." - Gramophone

"The harrowing intensity of Schubert's most famous string quartet (Death and the Maiden) is extended through the severe beauty of the Quartet in G and the epic narrative of the Quintet in C, where cellist Valentin Erben matches the lean, concentrated Belcea sound in long, intelligent phrases." The Independent on Sunday

Karl Jenkins celebrated his birthday at the Wales Millennium Centre on 14 November by conducting a concert marking three special occasions: his birthday, the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre and the 10th anniversary of the devolution of Wales.

The concert brought together Sinfonia Cymru and three choirs (Cor Caerdydd, Cordydd and Cantata) with soprano Rebecca Evans, harpist Catrin Finch, singers Elin Fflur, Geraint Llry Owen and former X Factor runner up Rhidian Roberts, virtuoso euphonium player David Childs and rising young cellist Steffan Morris.

All the music performed was by Karl Jenkins, who was later presented with the Cymry for the World award. Among the actors on stage and in the audience for the WMC Awards ceremony were Sian Phillips, Robert Hardy, Sir Derek Jacobi and Jonathan Pryce.

The December 2009 issue of Opera Magazine features a major profile on Diana Damrau to coincide with the release of her COLORaturaS CD of opera arias with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and Dan Ettinger.

Meanwhile, The Times, reviewing COLORaturaS, wrote, "Give DiDonato a high-voltage trill, a rush of arpeggios, stratospheric leaps and the other vocal flights ... and she conquers every time. ... In everything she does, DiDonato convinces. ... But there's more on display than simple technical triumphs. Her clear diction, controlled breaths and phrasing and the diversity of her emotional colouring always bring her characters to life and make each one an individual. ... Long live the yankeediva."

Sir Simon Rattle has signed a new contract with EMI Classics extending their exclusive relationship well beyond 30 years. Over the next four years, Sir Simon Rattle will make 12 CDs with EMI Classics. This agreement sees him, EMI Classics and the Berliner Philharmoniker build on their successes, which have resulted in, among others, three Grammy Awards in the US, three Classical Brit and three Gramophone Awards in the UK and two Echo Klassik Awards in Germany.

Project highlights in the next year include Tchaikovsky’s complete Nutcracker Ballet, a programme of American music including a new commission by Wynton Marsalis, and a programme of works by Schoenberg, including the rare Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene (Music for a Cinematographic Scene).

The year 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of Sir Simon Rattle’s exclusive relationship with EMI Classics, a period during which he has recorded more than 250 works for the label.

Sir Simon Rattle said: “In a time where recording contracts are rare enough to be an endangered species, I feel both lucky and privileged to be working further with EMI Classics, my loyal and brave partners of more than 30 years. The orchestra and I are delighted to be able to carry on bringing our music making to a hopefully ever wider audience, and are very touched by the faith of EMI in our partnership.”

Sir Simon Rattle signed the contract while on tour with the Berliner Philharmoniker in the US in the presence of Stephen Johns and Lorna Aizlewood, Vice President Business and Legal Affairs EMI Classics.

Get a sneak preview of our new Libera album! Download one track for free!

The Slovak-born Austrian soprano Lucia Popp would have been 70 years old today.

Popp had the ideal voice and personality for Viennese operetta, and was one of the best Rosalindes (Die Fledermaus) and Hanna Glawaris (The Merry Widow) of her time. She was also a celebrated recitalist and lieder singer, where her singing benefited from her charming stage presence.

Popp initially entered the Bratislava Academy to study drama. While she began her vocal lessons during this period as a mezzo-soprano, her voice developed a high upper register to the degree that her professional debut was as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute in Bratislava, a role she revived in a 1963 production directed by Otto Klemperer. In 1963, Herbert von Karajan invited her to join the Vienna State Opera, where she debuted as Barbarina in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. She made her Covent Garden debut in 1966 as Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera, and her Met debut in 1967 as the Queen of the Night.

Lucia Popp recorded extensively for EMI Classics. She rarely recorded roles she did not perform on stage (with a few exceptions, including Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser and the title role in Richard Strauss's Daphne).

Lucia Popp died in Germany in 1993 at the age of 54.

As we launch the EMI – The Home of Opera series, Joyce DiDonato offers her personal selection of recommended vocal/opera listening from the EMI/Virgin Classics catalogue, explaining why each of her opera favourites is not to be missed.

"These are wonderful performances by the young French pianist David Fray, a player with a beautiful touch and the finest control of dynamics and chording. ... By taking his time, without ever weakening the music's inexorable momentum, Fray fills every note with meaning, in such a way that we feel intensely each mercurial change of mood and colour and texture, relish Schubert's astonishing harmonic invention to the full, and relive the heartbreak, the ferocity, the elation, the visionary flights of these enexhaustible works." - The Sunday Times ****

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week this week is Erik Satie (1866-1925). Click on the link below to view all available Erik Satie recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

To celebrate the release of Natalie Dessay’s MAD SCENES, EMI Classics has assembled a playlist on SPOTIFY of some of our favourite ‘mad scenes’ in opera.

It features arias from I Puritani, Lucie di Lammermoor, Macbeth, La Sonnanbula, among others, performed by EMI & Virgin Classics artists like Diana Damrau, Mirella Freni, Montserrat Caballé, Maria Callas and, of course, Natalie Dessay.

Spotify is a proprietary peer-to-peer music streaming service that allows instant listening to specific tracks or albums. Music can be browsed by artists, albums, record labels or created playlists as well as by direct searches, and a link is provided to allow the listener to purchase the material directly via partner retailers. The service is currently only available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom, France and Spain.

The cover story of the November/December 2009 issue of International Piano magazine is a fascinating in-depth article about Leif Ove Andsnes and visual artist Robin Rhode's Pictures Reframed project.

A two-page feature in the December 2009 issue of Classic-FM Magazine focuses on Joyce DiDonato's fantastic blog and announces her new Rossini album for Virgin Classics.

Meanwhile, the Dilettente Music website features DiDonato in its Celebrity Playlist section

Diana Damrau is the subject of a four-page feature interview in the December 2009 issue of Classic-FM Magazine announcing the release of her new album Coloraturas, out this week in the UK.

BBC Music Magazine's December 2009 issue features an article about Leif Ove Andsnes and visual artist Robin Rhode's new project Pictures Reframed.

Robin Rhode says, "Our main goal was to allow this masterpiece of composition to become contemporary through visuals." Andsnes, who performs an elaboration of Mussorgsky's score, says, "The main thing isn't the notes themselves, but the composer's vision."

As Andsnes performs the music, a 'video-jockey' controls the projection of images prepared by Rhode. The projectionist has the ability to speed up or delay the images by milliseconds, in response to Andsnes's performance.

Andsnes and Rhode take 'Pictures Reframed' on a world tour to 24 venues, starting with the world premiere at New York's Lincoln Center on 13 and 14 November 2009. Their London performance takes place at the Royal Festival Hall on 4 December.

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week this week is Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). Click on the link below to view all available Carl Nielsen recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

Read a four-page feature article on Diana Damrau in the November 2009 issue of Gramophone magazine.

"Not many opera singers are compared to Vivien Leigh. James Inverne finds out why Diana Damrau has been propelled from respected Mozart specialist to a star famed for her explosive stage presence." - Gramophone

Sir Simon Rattle has signed a contract to continue in his role as Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker through 2018.

Rattle has led the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2002, the year in which the orchestra changed its status to a charitable foundation (the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker) creating new opportunities and ensuring the economic future of a body of players that currently numbers 129 full-time members. Under Rattle's guidance, the orchestra has expanded its educational and youth outreach programmes.

Rattle is heir to a distinguished line of principal conductors who have included Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan and Claudio Abbado.

EMI CLASSICS has recorded the Berliner Philharmoniker for nearly 100 years, harking back to the legendary first recording of a complete symphony (Beethoven's Symphony No. 5) in 1913 with Arthur Nikisch. Other highlights of the EMI/BPO discography include performances of wide-ranging repertoire conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Mariss Jansons and Simon Rattle

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week this week is Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881). Click on the link below to view all available Modest Mussorgsky recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

The much-loved British bass-baritone, Ian Wallace has died aged 90. Famous up and down the nation for his mastery of popular song, opera and light opera, Wallace made many recordings for EMI including the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and his memorable appearance in the famous Hoffnung Festival recordings.

Ingrid Fliter appears on the cover and in a feature story in the October/November 2009 Pianist.

Meanwhile outstanding reviews continue to pour in for her Chopin waltzes CD:

“The grace at high speed, the shaved phrasings, the little inflections and hesitations pronounce a pianist completely at ease with her own technique and the special mysteries of Chopin’s world, where gaiety shades into melancholy and nothing is quite what it seems. ... There’s [an] aristocratic touch about Fliter; you feel it in her refinement of touch, her elegant poise, her infinite shades of soft and loud. At the same time she is never aloof. ... The recording, clear and delicate, catches Fliter’s full spectrum of textures and colours. What a delight this CD is ...” The Times

We have teamed up with The Dress Circle to offer you the chance to win one of 10 Broadway Musicals box sets each containing 12CDs and 1CD ROM (containing lyrics). The set is available to buy in UK exclusively at The Dress Circle, Monmouth Street, London (see link below to their online store).

Enter the competition for the chance to win a set!

The Quatuor Ebène, winners of the 2009 Classic FM Gramophone Award for ‘Recording of the Year’ will perform in the Clore Ballroom of the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 24 October at 4 p.m. Their performance is part of the South Bank Centre’s Close Up series of free informal concerts featuring intimate performances by high-profile artists, followed by question and answer sessions and signings.

The Quartet and pianist Akiko Yamamoto, will play the Brahms Piano Quintet featured on their recently-released Virgin Classics CD, which they will be signing after the performance.

"Fliter's playing blends an innate feel for style with imagination. Subtle inflections of tonal shading and rhythm enhance the music's sense of spontaneous invention. ... There is a consistent impression that Fliter uses her technique with discretion as a means to finding the nub and scope of expression that Chopin distilled in these pieces. More soulful waltzes ... are shaped with delicate reflectiveness, with shifts into more robust, more active ideas sensitively judged. The D flat waltz Op. 70 No. 3 perfectly exemplifies the singing line that Fliter brings to her playing throughout this cherishable disc." ***** Daily Telegraph

"Ingrid Fliter is fast establishing herself as the pre-eminent contemporary performer of Chopin ... Restrained and elegant without sacrificing the momentum required to keep the pieces flowing, there's more than a touch of Arthur Rubinstein in her performances ... " - The Independent

The November 2009 issue of Classic FM Magazine features a two-page spread on Sarah Chang and her relationship to the Brahms Violin Concerto.

The Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, whose recording of Chopin's Complete Waltzes is released on 12 October 2009, is the subject of a profile in The Times.

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this week is Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Click on the link below to view all available Richard Strauss recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

"[Chang] gives a vital, soulfully lyrical performance [of the Bruch G minor concerto]. ... Moment to moment [in the Brahms concerto] Chang's warm musicianship still spreads delight." - The Times

"Their version [of the C minor Quartet] is highly impressive, incisive in rhythm, vivid in expression, with a beautiful ebb and flow and masterly contrast of texture and dynamics. ... They and the fine pianist Akiko Yamomoto take the Piano Quintet's andante slower than is now fashionable, with glorious results in the passionate climax of the movement. Their account of the whole quintet is very stirring." - The Times

The winners of the 2009 Classic FM Gramophone Awards were announced at a ceremony in London on 2 October. Congratulations to the EMI & Virgin Classics artists responsible for winning in each of the three categories in which they were finalists.

RECORD OF THE YEAR: Quatuor Ebène performing quartets by Debussy, Fauré and Ravel (519 0452). On hand to accept the award was the Quartet’s violist Mathieu Herzog. The Quatuor Ebène performs a recital of works by Brahms, Bartók and Schubert at the Wigmore Hall on 30 October.

WINNER - OPERA: Puccini Madama Butterfly with Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kauffmann and the Orchestra and Chorus of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia conducted by Antonio Pappano. (264 1872.) Antonio Pappano, currently conducting Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, collected the award.

WINNER - HISTORICAL RECORDING: Composers in Person (217 5752) This 22-CD set features a wide range of modern composers, among them Holst, Prokofiev, Messiaen, Shostakovich, Britten, Stravinsky and many others, performing their own works on the piano, organ or violin, or conducting them from the podium.

Stella Natalis, a new work fo choir and orchestra by Britain's best-loved living composer, Karl Jenkins, will be premiered on 28 November at Chelmsford Cathedral, followed by dates at St. Alban's Cathedral, Clifton Cathedral, Banbury St. Mary's Church and Norwich Cathedral between then and Christmas, all conducted by the composer.

"Stella Natalis means 'star of birth' or 'star of origin,' said Jenkins recently, "and the music conveys the Christmas message of peace, goodwill, compassion and a new beginning whilst using a wide palette of inspiration including Zulu text, reference to Hindu gods, as well as the Old Testament."

Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha (23 May 1923 - 25 September 2009), who thrilled music listeners for decades with polished and enthralling interpretations of great classical works and Spanish masters, has died aged 86.

She was widely considered to be one of the greatest of her generation and esteemed for her elegant Mozart performances and regarded as an incomparable interpreter of Albéniz, Granados, Mompou and other Spanish composers.

In a career that began when she was a child - she made her concert debut at 5, and her first recording at 9 - Alicia De Larrocha cultivated a poetic interpretive style in which gracefulness was prized over technical flashiness or grand, temperamental gestures.

Born in Barcelona, she began studying piano with Frank Marshall in Spain at the age of three. She performed her first concert at the World's Fair in Seville in 1929, and had her orchestral debut at the age of 11. She began touring internationally in 1947, and in 1954 toured North America with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

De Larrocha made numerous recordings of solo piano repertoire and in particular the works of composers of her native Spain, winning her first Grammy Award in 1975 and again, as recently as 1992, at the age of almost seventy. For EMI she recorded a selected list of titles which included works by Granados and Albéniz

As she grew older she began to play a different style of music; more Mozart and Beethoven were featured in her recitals and she became a regular guest at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts's Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. De Larrocha retired from public performing in October 2003, after 75 years as a professional pianist.

The "irrepressible" mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is the subject of a major feature in The Independent on 25 September 2009 that highlights the November release of her Rossini opera arias CD on Virgin Classics.

"beautifully conceived and played accounts of the four Brahms symphonies .... [No. 4] is, appropriately, the climax of the set: expansive and grand in the outer allegros, full of exquisite instrumental detail in the slow movements and the unusually jolly scherzo ...The second and Third Symphonies reflect a mellowing, almost autumnal approach to this music... [Symphony No. 1 is] heartfelt and expansive, and the playing of the Berliners is glorious. Among modern recordings, few are as well recorded or as sumptuously executed."

To celebrate the release of Sarah Chang's brand new Bruch and Brahms album, EMI Classics offers you the chance to own her recording of the Classic FM Hall of Fame No.1 - Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending absolutely free! To receive your free download, simply sign-up to the EMI Classics newsletter using the form below and you will receive the download link.

A major feature in The Independent on Sunday 'New Review' on 20 September highlights Angela Gheorghiu's upcoming Royal Festival Hall recital on 2 October and describes several of her EMI recordings, including the recent Madama Butterfly.

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this week is John Tavener

(b 1944). Click on the link below to view all available Tavener recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

The Independent has awarded five stars to the 20th Anniversary Edition of Vivaldi: The Four Seasons by Nigel Kennedy, describing it as "an album that transformed not just the interpretive breadth accorded Vivaldi but the commercial potential of classical music as a whole. [The recording] remains strikingly fresh."

The Daily Express calls it "a collector's must-have."

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this week is Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959). Click on the link below to view all available Villa-Lobos recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

The accolades continue to pour in for Antonio Pappano's latest release: The Sunday Times named it 'CD of the Week'; The Sunday Telegraph gave it 5 stars and praised its "vivid, full-blooded and sensitive performance"; and The Observer described it as "a total triumph".

The Daily Telegraph named Simon Rattle's recording of the complete Brahms Symphonies with the Berliner Philharmoniker as its 'Classical CD of the Week': "noble and rich in sound, yet emotionally subtle and alert. ... Altogether a marvellous achievement."

Both The Independent and The Times have given five-star reviews to Antonio Pappano's new recording of the Verdi Requiem:

"This is the second outstanding release this year from Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra and Chorus of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, following the acclaimed Madama Butterfly with Angela Gheorgiu... powerful, moving ensemble performances from the choir and soloists ... Rolando Villazón is stunning in 'Ingemisco' and Anja Harteros heart-rending in 'Libera me.' "

- The Independent

"This Mass is wrenchingly real and unflinchingly vivid. Listen once and you wonder what sins Pappano is confessing to. Listen twice and start confessing to your own. How does Pappano get so deep under Verdi's skin? That orchestra - and its associated chorus - play a big part. Listen to the outraged squeals of the brass and woodwind .... the soothing balm of the bassoonist .... or the surprising tenderness of the soft choral interjections.... It's this range and depth of expression that distinguishes Pappano's Requiem. Strong colours are delicately applied, the drama is constant yet unceasingly varied ..." - The Times

The Financial Times gave five stars to the new EMI Classics release of Verdi's Requiem performed by Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra and Choir of the Academy of Santa Cecilia. "Pappano fulfils the Requiem's grand-operatic potential. A magnificnet performance." *****

The Independent wrote "This quintessentially operatic work comes drenched in Italian passion, thanks to coruscating performances all round."

BBC Music Magazine's October 2009 cover features Simon Rattle with a 6-page article inside about his Brahms Symphonies cycle with the Berliner Philharmoniker.

“Orchestras are extraordinary animals. They pass on something unspoken from musicians and conductors who died more than a generation back, without even noticing what they’re doing. … You have to find a way to let them express themselves and to listen to what they are playing. You have to lead them. You cannot and should not control them. They come to the platform as chamber musicians. And they don’t ask ‘how’ but, like my three-year-old son, they ask ‘why’. That’s why I love working with them.” - Simon Rattle

Nigel Kennedy is the subject of a cover story in The Independent's Arts & Books section on September 4. The article coincides with EMI's UK release of the 20th Anniversary Edition of Kennedy's legendary Vivaldi Four Seasons recording.

Nigel Kennedy performs at the Tower Festival on September 10.

October Gramophone AND October BBC Music magazine CD of the Month is the EMI Classics recording of Verdi's Requiem with Antonio Pappano conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. "Listen to the whole thing and everything seems entirely right. For this is a journey moving inexorably to something at once glorious and frightening. Pappano's Roman forces are awesome to hear. ... This is above all Pappano's show." (Gramophone) / "'This Requiem is firmly founded on the altogether excellent singing of Pappano's Italian chorus." (BBC Music)

Included in the list are the following:

• Otto Klemperer - Beethoven: Fidelio

• Bernard Haitink - Mozart: Cosi fan tutte

• Otto Klemperer - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte

• Victor de Sabata - Puccini: Tosca

• Herbert von Karajan- Verdi: Falstaff

• Arturo Benedetti Michelangelo - Rachmaninov: PC No. 4

• Itzhak Perlman - Beethoven: Violin Concerto

• Jacqueline du Pré - Elgar: Cello Concerto

• Martha Argerich - Chopin: The Legendary 1965 Recording

• Fabio Biondi - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

• Wolfgang Sawallisch - Schubert: Complete Sacred Works

• Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos - Mendelssohn: Elijah

• Otto Klemperer - Brahms: A German Requiem

• Busch Quartet - Beethoven: Late String Quartets

• Pablo Casals - Bach: Cello Suites

• Nathan Milstein - Bach: Complete Violin Sonatas and Partitas

• Sir Simon Rattle - Stravinsky: Rite of Spring

• Mstislav Rostropovich - Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

• Sir Thomas Beecham - Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 93-104

• Sir John Barbirolli - Elgar: Sea Pictures / The Dream of Gerontius

• Sir Adrian Boult - Elgar: Symphony No. 2 and Short Pieces

• Yehudi Menuhin - Elgar: Violin Concerto

• Sir John Barbirolli - Elgar and Vaughan Williams

• Fischer-Dieskau - Schubert: Winterreise

From Natalie Dessay, Piotr Anderszewki, Fabio Biondi and Truls Mørk to Véronique Gens, Renaud Capuçon, Patricia Petibon, Leif Ove Andsnes and many more, artists come first on Virgin Classics, the enterprising label that has also joined the composer Quigang Chen in crossing cultural and musical boundaries … This new collection, Premium, takes you on a journey through the history of Virgin Classics. Though still youthful in spirit, its past is brimming with riches, colour and adventure.

SIgn-up and enter for a chance to win a weekend in Berlin and the opportunity to hear the legendary Berliner Philharmoniker perform at the Philharmonie. Simply click on the link below and click on the competition page to enter.

EMI Classics has teamed up with Gramophone.net to offer the public the chance to preview Sir Simon Rattle's recording of Brahms Symphpony No.4 at the The Gramophone Listening Room a full two weeks before its official release date of 7 September 2009.

"The gorgeous score draws on Britten, Ravel and Vaughan Williams, yet remains constantly inventive and surprising. There are passages of translucent beauty ... There are also show-stopping moments of insanely virtuosic coloratura for Ariel, which vividly suggest the character's ethereality. ... The singers respond [to their roles] with emotional warmth and intelligence."

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this coming week is Nikolay Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (1881-1950). Click on the link below to view all available Myaskovsky recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

Video viewings on the official EMI & Virgin Classics YouTube channel have now exceeded the magic 1 million mark; and just one year after the classical music labels began featuring their promotional video content on the site. The branded channel - www.youtube.com/emiclassics - was launched just under one year ago and aims to bring EMI and Virgin Classics artists and their music to ever-wider global audiences. The offering of fascinating short-documentaries, music videos and performance footage has steadily grown to more than 200 films and represents a library of content unrivalled by any other classical music label.

Alison Balsom’s Haydn & Hummel album promo video retains the crown for the most popular video on the channel closely followed by David Fray whose immense popularity in France and Germany enabled his Bach Concertos to become a best-selling album, and a YouTube favourite. French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky also features prominently in the top titles list with his appearance on the Christina Pluhar, L’Arpeggiata album Monteverdi - Teatro d’amore, as well as with his album of melodies françaises from the Belle Époque entitled Opium.

Recently posted videos include Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker on their recording of the Brahms Symphonies; Rolando Villazón leading an all-star line-up of soloists in Verdi’s mighty Messa da Requiem, conducted by Antonio Pappano; Leif Ove Andsnes and Rodin Rhode in a unique multimedia concept around Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Diana Damrau with her new recital disc of coloratura arias.

EMI and Virgin Classics have ambitious plans to see the channel grow still further by adding new videos on a regular basis and also mining the archives for rarely seen promotional films. New content to be uploaded over the coming weeks includes short-documentaries about David Fray’s forthcoming Schubert recital disc for Virgin Classics, Sarah Chang performing concertos by Bruch and Brahms with Kurt Masur; Ingrid Fliter playing Chopin Waltzes and Philippe Jaroussky’s new album of forgotten castrato arias.

EMI & Virgin Classics recordings feature prominently in the line-up of finalists at this year’s Classic FM Gramophone Awards. The winners will be announced on 2 October. Many congratulations to all the talented artists, producers and engineers in reaching the final stages of this prestigious event, and best of luck to you all!

• Opera - Puccini Madama Butterfly Angela Gheorghiu, Antonio Pappano (EMI Classics 2641872)

• Chamber - Ravel, Debussy, Fauré String Quartets Quatuor Ebène (Virgin Classics 5190452)

• Historic Reissue - The Great EMI Recordings Various Fritz Kreisler (EMI Classics 2650422)

• Historic Reissue - The Very Best of The Record of Singing Volumes 1-4 (1899-1952) (EMI Classics 2289562)

• Historic Reissue - Composers In Person Various (EMI Classics 2175752)

"It is 20 years since spiky-haired football fan and violin genius Nigel Kennedy broke the mould with his interpretation of The Four Seasons. Now that album's reissue is set to cause a second stir in the UK." (Music Week headline)

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this coming week is Carl Orff (1895-1982). Click on the link below to view all available Orff recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

England My England by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge has hit No.1 in the official UK Classical Artist Chart.

Mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux made her BBC Proms debut on August 6th 2009 in two Rossini arias with the BBC Philharmonic and conductor Gianandrea Noseda.

"The star turn before the interval came from Vivica Genaux in virtuoso accounts of two Rossini arias ... With lavish and intricate ornamentation [...] she negotiated the coloratura with breathtaking ease." (Musical Criticism)

MUSO magazine devotes the cover of its August/September issue and a four-page feature to Kate Royal, the English lyric soprano whose Midummer Night CD has been winning rave reviews since its May 2009 release.

A major article appears in the September 2009 issue of Classic FM Magazine using the new special edition of Nigel Kennedy's Vivaldi Four Seasons recording as the lead item in a feature listing 50 Recordings That Changed Classical Music. The list includes 18 titles from the EMI Classics and Virgin Classics catalogue, more than from any other label.

As CLASSIC FM says "Kennedy's 1989 Four Seasons is one of only a few recordings that have made the world sit up and take notice of a new star, a piece of music or a composer"

These are the EMI/VIRGIN CLASSICS titles featured on the CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE list:

Nigel Kennedy/ English Chamber Orchestra - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Yehudi Menuhin - Elgar: Violin Concerto/Enigma Variations

Artur Schnabel – Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas

Pablo Casals: Bach Cello Suites

Walter Gieseking: Debussy Complete Piano works

Wilhelm Furtwängler - Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

Maria Callas - Tosca

Dennis Brain - Mozart: Horn Concertos/ Quintet, K. 452

Otto Klemperer - Beethoven : Symphony 3/Leonore Overtures 1 & 2

Sir Thomas Beecham - Delius: Brigg Fair and other orchestral works

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli - Ravel & Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos

Andre Cluytens - Fauré: Requiem

Sir John Barbirolli - Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius Op.38

John Barbirolli - Mahler: Symphony No. 5

David Munrow - Instruments of Middle Age and Renaissance

Roger Norrington - Beethoven: Complete Symphonies

Chant - The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos

Vanessa Mae – The Violin Player

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this coming week is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). Click on the link below to view all available Tchaikovsky recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this coming week is Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967). Click on the link below to view all available Kodály recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue

"England My England", the new release from the Choir of King's College Cambridge is a suitably patriotic collection of English choral greats and the perfect companion to the English summertime. The value-packed 40-track collection features all-time favourites including Jerusalem (Parry), Abide with me (Monk), Zadok the Priest (Handel), Nimrod (Elgar), Song for Athene (Tavener), Spem in alium (Tallis), I vow to thee my country (Holst) and many more. Available now from all good stores on 2CD or digital download.

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this coming week is Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). Click on the link below to view all available Ravel recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue

EMI Classics has announced the signing of the 22-year-old Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang. A protégée of Anne-Sophie Mutter, Vilde is the recipient of numerous awards and has performed with such artists as Mariss Jansons, Martha Argerich, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Gidon Kremer and Yuri Bashmet. After her debut recital at the Wigmore Hall in July 2009, The Times wrote, “With her heart, soul and penetrating technique, she’s definitely a violinist to look out for.” Vilde’s debut recording, to be released internationally in January 2010, features the Violin Concerto and three Humoresques by Sibelius and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1.

The French pianist Alexandre Tharaud, a "young aristocrat of the keyboard” (Gramophone), has signed an exclusive contract with Virgin Classics. Tharaud has acquired a distinctive reputation for his skilful and personally conceived programming, whether for the concert hall or the recording studio. His projects around Rameau, Couperin, Bach and Chopin have received acclaim from critics and audiences around the world. Tharaud’s first album for Virgin Classics, ‘Journal Intime,’ featuring works by Chopin, will be released in the UK in February 2010.

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this coming week is Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). Click on the link below to view all available Vivaldi recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue

In an act of remarkable courage and determination, Joyce DiDonato will sing the role of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia from a wheelchair at the Royal Opera House on July 7, three days after fracturing her leg in a fall onstage. Despite suffering considerable pain during and following her fall in Act I on July 4th, DiDonato insisted on completing her performance, soldiering on through Act II before going to the hospital for X-rays. The production also features Juan Diego Flórez as Count Almaviva. Antonio Pappano conducts the production, which will be relayed free to the public on outdoor screens across the UK on July 15.

A photo of Joyce DiDonato, Natalie Clein and Alison Balsom graces the cover of the August 2009 'Proms' issue of BBC Music Magazine with the caption 'Proms Queens'. All three artists will perform in the 2009 Proms season. The BBC Proms, the world's biggest classical music festival, runs from July 17 through September 12, 2009.

DiDonato performs on 25 August, Clein performs on 29 and 31 August and Balsom performs on 30 August as well as on The Last Night of the Proms, 12 September.

Diana Damrau, exclusive Virgin Classics artist and Adina in the recent revival of L'elisir d'amore at the Royal Opera House, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Gramophone Artist of the Year award. The awards ceremony will be held on 2 October 2009 at The Dorchester, London.

"Damrau is a natural, a big personality on stage, firing up her vocals to great purpose, scolding, flirting, coaxing and cajoling for all she’s worth. It’s a lovely sound she makes but it’s the personality behind that sound, the uninhibited way she uses the coloratura that proves so winning." (The Independent)

EMI Classics's recording of The Tempest by Thomas Adès is CD of the Month in the August 2009 issue of Gramophone magazine:

"The Royal Opera House finally hit gold with a new opera ... that will surely stand the test of time, that deepens with every hearing. ... The casting assembles some of the finest performers around today. ... Adès's own conducting drives inexorably the groundswell of lyricism that motivates this piece and unifies all the vocal acrobatics. And ... there is everywhere the satisfying feeling of a show that has been well played in."

Free public outdoor relays of Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia live from Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Antonio Pappano, will take place on Wednesday 15 July at 19:30.

The Screenings will be held in the following locations:

• London, Trafalgar Square

• London, Canary Wharf

• Waltham Forest, Walthamstow Town Square

• Bradford, Centenary Square

• Cardiff, The Hayes

• Derby, Market Place

• Leeds, Millennium Square

• Liverpool, Clayton Square

• Manchester, Exchange Square

• Middlesbrough, Centre Square

• Plymouth, The Piazza

• Portsmouth, Guildhall Square

• Rotherham, All Saints’ Square

• Swansea, Castle Square

• Swindon, Wharf Green

Pre performance events start from 7pm; the main feature starts 7:30pm

Approximate timings: 3 hours (Act I 100 minutes / Interval 25 minutes / Act II 60 minutes)

Performances are being filmed for DVD release on Virgin Classics in January 2010.

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this coming week is Franz Schubert (1797-1828). Click on the link below to view all available Schubert recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

Leif Ove Andsnes has been performing in factories and disused shipyards recently as part of an audio-visual project entitled Pictures Reframed. The joint project with South-African-born visual artist Robin Rhode centres around Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” and combines music, film and still images.

Read about Pictures Reframed in ClassicFM magazine and look out for the world premiere at Lincoln Center, N.Y. November 13 and 14 and at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall December 4.

Sir Simon Rattle was the subject of a prestigious "Lunch with the FT" feature interview published on Saturday 20 June 2009. In it he speaks extensively about his work with the Berliner Philharmoniker and about his perceived differences between the Germans and the Brits.

Sir Simon's next EMI release, in September 2009, will be the Brahms symphonies with the Berliner Philharmoniker.

The world première recording of The Tempest, conducted by the composer and recorded in association with BBC Radio 3 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2007, has entered the Official UK Classical New Release Chart at No.1!

Critical acclaim for the recording includes:

* The Independent (5 star review)

* The Daily Telegraph (4 star review)

* The Financial Times (3 star review)

* The Observer (CD of the Week)

* The Guardian (4 star review)

* The Times (3 star review)

* The Sunday Times (Classical CD of the Week)

BBC Radio 3 Composer of the week this coming week is Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). Click on the link below to view all available Stravinsky recordings in the EMI & Virgin Classics catalogue.

“dazzling performances by Evgeny Kissin, which also reveal this pianist’s increasing maturity as a musician. He finds the deeper inner inspiration of the music in the second concerto as well as the amazing virtuosity. The better-known third concerto combines wit and poetry and here Kissin, wonderfully accompanied by Ashkenazy and the orchestra, strikes a perfect balance between the elements.” - The Sunday Telegraph

The Sunday Times describes Piotr Anderszewski as “a formidable technician and an interpreter of outstanding musical taste and insight” in a programme “as intriguing as it is various.”

The Independent gave the EMI Classics recording of Adès’s The Tempest 5 stars, calling the work “the most significant opera of recent years.”

The Observer named The Tempest 'CD of the Week': “Yet another storming performance …. [with] luxury casting.”

The Daily Telegraph wrote, “This vivid live recording … Is magnificently sung and played.”

“The electricity of a live occasion surges through this recital of Bartók and Schumann … Just as the playing transmits a special glow and dynamism, so the programme sizzles with originality. … sheer artistry and interpretative candour are the overriding qualities of a performance that so forcefully taps the music’s central core of romantic expression. … A phenomenal recital.” ***** The Daily Telegraph

At the Phonographic Performance Ltd Annual General Meeting on 3 June, 2009, EMI Classics picked up an award for the classical work that was most played on radio last year: Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult. (British Composers series 0077776401522)

“As a rescue and rehabilitation job for one of Handel’s lesser-known (and unfairly maligned) scores, Virgin has done a super job with Faramondo. They’ve thrown both of their star countertenors at it and it’s a real treat to hear Max Emanuel Cencic and Philippe Jaroussky on the one set. It’s casting that will take some beating. Indeed, the whole thing is marvellously sung and played. Consider Faramondo rescued.

Editor's Choice, Gramophone, July 2009

“These musicians have all the hallmarks of excellence and it’s impossible not to be drawn to their empathy with the rhythmic vivacity and finer sensibilities of the music. Capuçon, who’s a telling presence in his collaborations with Martha Argerich, is no less of a presence here, exposing a range of emotions in the Adagio of K207, and the collaboration with an equally superb musician, Antoine Tamestit, in K364 is an exposé of skilled dovetailing, the sympathetic give and take at the heart of fine duo playing.”

Gramophone, July 2009

"From the opening Sinfonia of Bach's second Partita to the last of Bartók's Three Hungarian Folksongs from the Csik District, Anderszewski plays with extraordinary, compelling intensity. The Bach is wonderfully poised and crystalline, rhythms picked out with diamond precision, textures perfectly transparent. It is followed by an account of Schumann's Faschingsschwank aus Wien that is just about the best on disc ... This is playing of exceptional insight and finesse, which few other pianists today could match."

***** The Guardian

'The New Voice of Opera Royalty' is the cover story of the June 2009 issue of Classic FM Magazine, which has a six-page profile feature on Kate Royal and her new album Midsummer Night.

“With Piotr Anderszewski poised to give a rare London solo recital at the Southbank on June 9, this two-disc set provides a captivating reminder and foretaste of the intellectual power, profound emotional response and keen imagination that his playing conveys. … This is an outstanding release.”

***** The Daily Telegraph

"Here are two great soloists caught 'on the hoof', sparking off each other in a mix of quasi-improvisatory musicianship and collaborative verve. [Their recital] included violin sonatas by Bartók (No. 1) and Schumann (No. 2) which, in such fertile hands, communicate with rare intensity and expressive inwardness. Argerich captures the nerve-endings of Schumann's Kinderszenen, Kremer the inner core of Bartók's Solo Violin Sonata. ... A marvellous disc." The Financial Times

EMI Classics celebrates a double victory at the 2009 Classical BRIT Awards, the 10th anniversary show, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall on 14th May 2009. Trumpeter Alison Balsom was crowned Female Artist of the Year for the release of her recent album Haydn & Hummel Trumpet Concertos and Howard Goodall scooped Composer of the Year for his album Eternal Light - A Requiem.

Since being awarded Young British Classical Performer at the 2006 Classical BRIT Awards, glamorous trumpeter Alison Balsom’s career has gone from strength to strength. She is the only female classical trumpeter with an exclusive major label recording contract and at this year’s Classical BRIT Awards she was both the sole British artist and the sole instrumentalist nominated in the Female Artist of the Year category.

The Composer of the Year award went to Howard Goodall for his choral work Eternal Light – A Requiem. Howard Goodall is perhaps best known as the composer of various popular TV themes such as Blackadder, Red Dwarf and The Vicar of Dibley but is also a prodigious writer of choral music.

The Classical BRIT Awards 2009 with NS&I will be broadcast on ITV1, Tuesday 19 May at 10:35pm and again on ITV3, Sunday 24 May at 7:45pm.

Listen to Mark Lawson's interview with John Tavener on BBC Radio 4's Front Row programme. Broadcast on May 12, 2009, the interview, about Tavener's Requiem, is available online until May 18th.

“This marvellous disc is a real delight and triumphantly confirms Kate Royal as one of the finest British singers working today. […] The most striking thing about the recital is not just the lush beauty of Royal’s voice [but] the fullness of her tone and a wonderful, creamy richness at the top of the register. No: the most memorable thing about this collection is how marvellous a vocal actor Royal proves herself to be. […] At every turn [Royal] is ably partnered by [Edward] Gardner and the ENO Orchestra. […] This great disc only whets the appetite to hear Royal in more complete roles, and that is as high praise for a recital disc as I can imagine.”

Kate Royal talks about Midsummer Night to Jane Garvey on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and to Sean Rafferty on BBC Radio 3's In Tune.

Hear her perform two Brahms lieder live on Radio 3 and listen to tracks by Dvořák, Floyd, Barber, Herrmann and Stravinsky from the new album.

"Simon Rattle has assembled a superb cast for Ravel's one act fantasy opera - in which animals sing and furniture comes to life ... The playing of the Berlin orchestra is of a stupendous refinement, capturing that Ravelian mixture of sophistication and innocence. In the Mother Goose suite, it is again hard not to marvel at how such attention to detail can be maintained without surrendering anything of the music's sensuous ebb and flow. "

***** The Daily Telegraph

"This Schumann and Bartók recital is a meeting of musical equals, with both on top form. [...] Hearing these two build their interpretations together and apart is like watching two great Shakespearean actors, each pushing the other to greater heights."

Queen of the Night is the title of a feature article that appeared in The Guardian about soprano Kate Royal and her new CD Midsummer Night .

"... I was taken aback by the melodic diversity and daring astringency of Tavener's [Requiem]. ... Vasily Petrenko sets a cavernous Mussorgsky-like atmosphere and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic soloists are sensational." **** Evening Standard

"Capuçon's silvery tone and expressive phrasing of the slow movements beautifully balance his brisk and exhilarating takes on the allegros and prestos. For the Sinfonia Concertante, Capuçon is joined by fello Frenchman, violist Antoine Tamestit to form a stylish partnership which overtly radiates warmth and sensitivity. These are outstanding performances, very persuasive in their exhilarating technical skills and above all in their genuinely moving inspiration. Don't miss this one." The Sunday Herald

Alison Balsom, Howard Goodall and Libera were amongst the nominations announced last night for the prestigious Classical BRIT Awards. Alison Balsom is nominated in the Best female category for her critically acclaimed recording of the Haydn & Hummel trumpet concertos, Howard Goodall is nominated in the Composer of the Year category for the best-selling album 'Eternal Light - A Requiem', and Libera is also nominated in the Young Performer of Group of the year category.

Evgeny Kissin’s recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy (available from 4th May) has been given a glowing 5-star review by Norman Lebrecht in the Evening Standard – “This is an absorbing record, absolutely indispensable.”

The critically acclaimed new recording of Puccini's 'Madama Butterfly' with Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann, and conducted by Antonio Pappano went straight in at No.1 in the official UK Classical Chart today, following its first week of release.