Sony Classical Celebrates The 125th Anniversary of Carnegie Hall With The Release of GREAT MOMENTS AT CARNEGIE HALL

Ever since its opening night in May 1891, Carnegie Hall has held sway as the undisputed shrine of classical music in America. It was and remains the essential venue for all great artists. To celebrate Carnegie Hall's 125th anniversary, Sony Classical in partnership with Carnegie Hall is proud to present an extraordinary new 43-CD box set of treasures from the RCA and Columbia archives featuring live recordings from many of the world's greatest musicians. Available April 29, this unique deluxe edition contains a complete previously unreleased piano recital by Sviatoslav Richter and is accompanied by a 104-page coffee table book, which includes notes by Director of Carnegie Hall's Archives Gino Francesconi as well as many facsimile documents and photographs.

This recorded chronicle of eight decades spotlights many of the artists who enjoyed historically close ties to Carnegie Hall. It begins with two performances of Beethoven's Fifth, from 1931 and 1933 by Arturo Toscanini and continues with a performance from 1934 in which Serge Koussevitzky conducts Roy Harris's First Symphony, among the first works by an American-born composer to be recorded by a major orchestra. It was one of some 115 important compositions – by Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Bartók and others – that Koussevitzky and the BSO gave their USA premieres at Carnegie Hall.

Yo Yo Ma and Kathryn Scott Release "Songs from the Arc of Life"

"I like to think of Songs from the Arc of Life as an invitation to our audience to remember and imagine what the soundtracks of their lives might be," Yo-Yo Ma says.  "Kathy and I have talked for years about recording an album of music we absolutely love, pieces that express the context of a life, of our lives.  Childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, old age: what do they sound like?"

"I love this title," Stott says, "the 'Arc of Life' – because it is one big arc. Once we arrived at the idea, we began to see a beautiful story, a journey through life's experiences. It has taken us a long time and much discussion, back and forth, to discover what that journey might be, because everyone's journey is slightly different."

Songs from the Arc of Life begins and ends with two, much-beloved settings of the traditional "Ave Maria," opening with the soaring, radiant Bach/Gounod arrangement and closing with Schubert's more serene, contemplative version.

Sony Classical to Release The 2015 New Year's Concert With The Vienna Philharmonic & Zubin Mehta

Sony Classical is pleased to announce the release of the recording of one of the world's most famous classical music events: the 2015 New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic. One of the most distinguished conductors of our time, Zubin Mehta, returns to direct the 2015 concert, having already done so four times previously. The CD will be released nationwide on January 20.  The DVD and Blu-Ray will be available on February 3, 2015.

The New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic is one of the world's longest-standing and most prestigious music events. In a history covering more than 70 years, many famous conductors have conducted the concert, and over 50 million people in more than 80 countries enjoy the live broadcasts on TV. In 2015 the concert will be directed by one of the most distinguished conductors, Zubin Mehta.

On New Year's Day, from the legendary venue of Vienna's flower-filled Musikverein, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra presents a heart-warming program drawn mainly from the waltzes and polkas of the Strauss dynasty – Johann father and son, as well as Josef and Eduard Strauss – and their contemporaries. The proven formula blends old favourites with less-known works that have never been performed before at the New Year´s Concert. In 2015 these traditions continue, but there is one significant break with the past: the programme, previously a closely guarded secret until a few days before the event, has already been announced.

This year works by the Strauss family, five of which are premieres at the New Year's Concert, are complemented by Franz von Suppé's overture "Morning, Midday, Evening in Vienna" and the "Champagne Gallop" by Hans Christian Lumbye. The works performed for the first time are the waltz "On the Elbe" and the "Student Polka" by Johann Strauss the Younger, his father's "Freedom March", and one polka each by Josef Strauss ("Viennese Life") and Eduard Strauss ("Where One Laughs and Lives"). The annual concert is inconceivable without two pieces that always number among the encores (not included in the list of tracks below): the "Blue Danube Waltz" by Johann Strauss the Younger, and his father's "Radetzky March".