Iceland Symphony Orchestra / Yan Pascal Tortelier GOUNOD Symphonies

After winning the Prix de Rome for his cantata Fernand in 1839 and spending two years in Rome, Gounod should have gone on to study in Germany, but he managed in 1842 to persuade the authorities that he should remain in Rome to work on a symphony.

In 1843 he visited Mendelssohn who (while trying to dissuade him from wasting his time on Goethe’s Faust!) urged him to write another symphony. We do not know how much of the First Symphony Gounod had completed by then, but it is not surprising that Mendelssohn figures as one of the key influences on both symphonies. After performances of individual movements in 1855, premieres were given of the First on 4 March that year and of the Second on 13 February 1856.

Yan Pascal Tortelier and his Iceland Symphony Orchestra demonstrate outstanding precision and musicality in these unjustly neglected works.

Grigory Sokolov MOZART - RACHMANINOV Concertos

This release is a piece of history: it is a combination of unreleased and historic audio and visuals. It allows a unique view of the enigmatic maestro Grigory Sokolov's life because it offers an opportunity to hear authentic performances from over ten and even twenty years ago accompanied by a brand-new film by Nadya Zhdanova. 

On Sokolov's performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto K 488, the Salzburger Nachrichten noted: "Such is his intensity that Sokolov sweeps everything and everyone along with him". Similarly, The Times wrote that "Sokolov swept through the concerto like a hurricane" with Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto. 

These historic performances will be published in combination with a unique documentary, which looks back on both Sokolov's artistic and private biography. Whilst Sokolov is well known for being reclusive and rarely giving interviews, filmmaker Zhdanova achieved the impossible: she spoke with his friends and colleagues and eventually was allowed to use private material from Sokolov's archives. Ultimately, Zhdanova discovered rare and unreleased video footage which offers an intimate insight into the life of Sokolov.