Mari Samuelsen / Håkon Samuelsen JAMES HORNER Pas de Deux

Pas de Deux is not a James Horner score for an unknown film but a freestanding composition, being billed as his first foray into classical music since the 1980s. Leaving aside the question of whether film scores qualify as classical music, it seems pretty clear that those who like Horner in general will like this work. Here and elsewhere, he does one thing well -- lush romanticism -- and does it very, very well. His economy of gesture, which makes one wonder why neutral arpeggios are having such an emotional impact, is fully in evidence here, and the configuration of forces, with lots to do for the two soloists, produces film score-like textures. The Norwegian violin-and-cello duo of Mari and Håkon Samuelson commissioned Pas de Deux, and though it is being promoted as the first major double concerto for violin and cello since Brahms, Horner himself has described the piece as a composition for violin and cello with orchestral accompaniment rather than as a true concerto. For all that, Pas de Deux does not really resemble Horner's film scores musically. It has elements that suggests what might have happened had Vaughan Williams somehow lived long enough to become enamored of minimalism, and it shows that Horner has been keenly aware of contemporary crossover directions. The work is performed here by the Samuelsens and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Vasily Petrenko, the forces that premiered the work in 2014, and it's safe to say that their work reflects the composer's intentions. The album is filled out with works by Arvo Pärt (the protean Fratres), Giovanni Sollima, and Ludovico Einaudi, whose Divenire also features the violin-cello combination. Horner can hold his own with any of them, and listeners who imagine sun-drenched meadows while listening to Pas de Deux will have a very good time with it. (James Manheim)

Ernst, Daniel & Andreas Ottensamer THE CLARINOTTS

The Clarinotts are a one-of-a-kind clarinet trio formed of Ernst, Daniel and Andreas Ottensamer – the Principal Clarinettists of the Vienna Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras.

Founded in 2005, the ensemble aims to find new and exciting ways in which to bring the varied voices of the clarinet family to the fore, performing on the E-flat, bass clarinet and basset horn alongside the more common B-flat and A clarinet.  With an emphasis on the Viennese tradition of clarinet playing, the individual excellence of each player – all esteemed international soloists in their own right – is expressed in collective performances of the very highest quality.

Comprising extant works, new arrangements and high-profile commissions, The Clarinotts’ repertoire is wide-ranging and diverse, covering core classical masterpieces as well as film music and jazz – all serving to display the dazzling range of colour and inbuilt unity of this critically acclaimed father-and-son trio.  The ensemble ranges accordingly, performing duos and trios with and without piano, as well as in combination with other artists and ensembles.

The Clarinotts regularly tour Europe and Asia, and appear as guests with many of the world’s most renowned orchestras and festivals.  Recent and upcoming highlights include tours of Japan, China and Taiwan, and the world première of a triple clarinet concerto by celebrated Austro-Hungarian composer Ivàn Eröd with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Andris Nelsons (January 2016).

The Clarinotts released their debut album on Octavia Records and Gramola Vienna in 2009 to much critical acclaim, and are set to release a recording on Mercury Classics/Deutsche Grammophon in early 2016.

The 1^st January 2016 will see the release of The Clarinotts new album on Deutsche Grammophon/Mercury Classics. The enormously talented family trio have based this album on music for the stage, including music by Rossini and Mozart, and it has been recorded with string members from the Vienna Philharmonic.  As well as this exciting news, The Clarinotts will also be the feature of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Day intermission film. This will be live streamed world-wide to over 90 countries and will be watched by around 50 million people.

Ólafur Arnalds / Alice Sara Ott THE CHOPIN PROJECT

Classical music has always been very much about performance and interpretation - about that moment, in concert, when the performer interprets the composer s music in his own way. Then recording technology came along, and in classical it was all about capturing the live performance in the most accurate way. But I believe that when music has been channeled through all the machinery and processes that are part of making a recording, it is no longer all about that moment. It can t be. The act of recording becomes a ghost performer in itself, reflecting on the result in a way that is often unaccounted for or ignored.
While The Beatles dragged pop music along by starting to use the recording technology as a part of the composition and performance, classical music was left to still somehow aim for the impossible. And the idea of what is considered an accurate and true sound became an unbreakable norm in itself.
This norm never made much sense to me. Why not use the technology we have as not only a tool, but a part of the actual interpretation? Why can t the microphones, the room - the sound - also be a performer? Why would all of these factors need to stay invisible behind the norm of a true recording sound? And why would a good classical piano sound naturally have to be the silvery, brilliant concert grand sound that we have on classical recordings today, while we know that the pianos of the 19th century sounded so very different?
All these are norms that I was interested to test. Alice was the perfect partner in this project. Her recording of Chopin s Waltzes has been a true inspiration for me. We spent a week exploring different microphones, pianos and venues all over Reykjavik, trying to find the perfect constellation for each of her interpretations. And then I tried to put them in a new context with my own recompositions, based on themes from Chopin s pieces. I wanted to make a dynamic and modern album with the originals and recompositions melting together to create one arc, one coherent storyline.
Chopin's music has a very special meaning for me. When I was younger I was playing drums in various metal bands and all I wanted to listen to was punk and heavy metal music. But whenever I visited my grandmother, which I did frequently, she would always make me listen to Chopin. If it had been my parents forcing classical music down my throat at that time of my life I probably would have puked on their face. But I guess out of respect for my grandmother I always listened with her and slowly it started to grow on me.
My last moment with my grandmother was on her deathbed, she was just lying there, old and sick, but very happy and proud. And I sat with her and we listened to a Chopin sonata. Then I kissed her goodbye and left. She passed away a few hours later.
At that point I was already studying classical composition and experimenting, releasing and touring with all kinds of classically inspired music. But Chopin always kept this special place in my heart and I wanted to express that by making his music the center of this project. By looking at his music in a different way, through the prism of recording technique in its different facets and through my own compositions, I didn't intend to question the integrity of Chopin's music. I wanted to find my very personal interpretation, like so many other great musicians have done before me. (Ólafur Arnalds)

Miloš Karadaglić / London Philharmonic Orchestra ARANJUEZ

For his third album on Mercury Classics/Deutsche Grammophon, international chart-topping classical guitarist Miloš Karadaglić takes the world-famous Concierto de Aranjuez as the starting point for a journey across the Spanish landscape, paying tribute to the great composers and musicians who placed the modern classical guitar firmly on the international stage.

The Concierto de Aranjuez was written by Joaquín Rodrigo for the Spanish guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza and very soon became not just the most famous Spanish guitar concerto but also the most famous guitar concerto of all time; its ravishing slow movement was taken up and arranged by musicians of all genres, from Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Jim Hall to Herb Alpert, from Frank Sinatra to José Carreras. And now, Miloš has produced a standalone new interpretation of Aranjuez; the definitive version for our time.

Miloš sees the work as “the holy grail of the guitar repertoire and an endless source of inspiration. The first and last movements sparkle with energy and rhythm. They paint the landscape of nature, happiness and love. The legendary second movement takes us to a different reality, where emotions overflow and a string becomes a voice.”

For the recording of the new album Aranjuez, Miloš was joined by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios in London. Miloš recalls that “Yannick’s energy is infectious and our collaboration was the most electric experience. When we met before the recording sessions to run through the music together, he taught me things I shall always be grateful for. For example, he asked me to rethink my approach to Rodrigo’s notorious scale passages. He suggested that, instead of focusing on each note, I should think of them as gestures – taking each one in a different direction as if they were brushstrokes. At that moment I relaxed completely; I had found the final piece of a puzzle, a piece I had been looking for all along.”

Aranjuez is a celebration of the most popular Spanish works for guitar and orchestra, which includes Rodrigo’s Fantasía para un gentilhombre, and it explores the birth and recognition of the modern guitar in the 20th century. “The guitar as we know it today emerged only at the end of the 19th century, after centuries of various transformations. The Spanish guitar maker Antonio de Torres constructed an instrument larger in size and tone than its predecessors, and that marked the beginning of a new age. The guitar was ready to leave the elegant aristocratic salon for the concert platform…”

For Miloš it has been a long journey from Montenegro, where he was born and at eight started playing the guitar. Now a household name, he has become among his generation one of the most successful champions of his instrument. London, where he now lives, played a decisive role in his career, particularly during his years as a student at the Royal Academy of Music.

Miloš LATINO Gold

One of the hottest properties in classical music, MILOŠ came to international attention in 2011 with his debut album The Guitar/ Mediterráneo which, in the space of just a few months, topped classical charts around the world, sold over 150,000 copies and won him Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year Award.

Miloš Karadaglić, an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon/Mercury Classics recording artist, released his second album Latino in 2012 and went on to receive both Classic Brit (UK) and Echo Klassik (Germany) awards. Reviewing the album Gramophone commented “Karadaglić is a guitarist of superior musical and technical gifts who allows his personality to sing through the music with taste and intelligence” and The Daily Telegraph added “this new Latin American programme is outstanding in its finesse, warm sensuality and sheer beauty.”

In March 2012 Deutsche Grammophon/Mercury Classics released Latino GOLD – a special CD/DVD edition that includes new recordings of works by Piazzola, Villa-Lobos and some of the most popular South American composers. HEARTSTRINGS, a one hour documentary film has been released simultaneously and will be aired on TV throughout the year.