Press Room

Warner Classics & Erato releases April 2025

Highlights include:

  • Strasbourg Philharmonic’s new Daphnis et Chloé to celebrate Ravel at 150
  • World premiere recordings of three piano concertos by dedicatee Alexandre Tharaud
  • Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht’s complete Erato recordings
  • Iconic Jacqueline du Pré concerto recordings on Hybrid SACD

New titles

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé
Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg / Aziz Shokhakimov
Digital / CD
Release date: April 18

Aziz Shokhakimov and the Orchestra Philharmonique de Strasbourg celebrate the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth with a new recording of his ballet Daphnis et Chloé, featuring the Choeur Philharmonique de Strasbourg.

Concertos: Pécou, Lazkano, Nante
Alexandre Tharaud, piano
Orchestra National de Lyon / Stockhammer [Pécou] WDR Sinfonieorchester / Cambreling [Lazkano] Orchestra National de Lille / Hoving [Nante] Digital / CD
Release date: April 25

French pianist Alexandre Tharaud gives the world premiere recordings of three piano concertos, all written for and dedicated to him by contemporary composers, and each recorded with a different orchestra and conductor. Argentine-born composer Alex Nante says his Luz de lejos aims to “explore particular interpretative facets that [Tharaud] possesses”; for his Cara Bali Concerto, French composer Thierry Pécou drew inspiration from the gong kebyar, a style of Balinese gamelan music; and French-Spanish composer Ramon Lazkano describes Mare Marginis as being motivated by the desire to “explore the keyboard anew … to extract the hidden resonances.”

Catalogue

The Complete Erato Recordings
Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht, conductor
16-CD boxed-set
Release date: April 4

A pivotal figure in 20th-century French music, Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht (1880–1965) was renowned as a conductor, composer, and passionate advocate for French repertoire. This comprehensive boxed set presents Inghelbrecht’s complete discographic legacy for Pathé, Ducretet Thomson, Columbia, and Erato, comprising his 78 RPM records (1929–39), LP recordings (1953–55), and live broadcasts (1955–62), as well as multiple CD premieres and new remasterings.

The Great Cello Concertos
Jacqueline du Pré, cello
4-SACD set
Release date: April 4

This boxed set presents Jacqueline du Pré’s recordings of cello concertos by Elgar, Delius, Schumann, Dvořák, Haydn, Boccherini, Saint-Saëns, Lalo, and Monn, now in Hybrid SACD format for the first time.

Chopin: Etudes Opp. 10 & 25
Maurizio Pollini, piano
2-LPs
Release date: April 11

After winning the 1960 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Maurizio Pollini signed an exclusive contract with EMI and recorded two albums devoted to the Polish composer’s music. During post-production however, the pianist withdrew his approval without explanation for the second recording, which features the Études. He eventually granted his approval in 2011, and the performances were recently remastered in high-resolution from the original tapes. Following the release of an SACD edition in February, they are now being issued on LP vinyl for the first time.

Upcoming May 2025 releases

New titles (all TBC):
  • May 9: Elisabeth Leonskaja & Orchestre Français des Jeunes – Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”); Quintet for piano and winds, Op.16
  • May 16: Mariam Batsashvili – Influences
  • May 16: Jacob Mühlrad – Adrift (EP)
  • May 23: Félicien Brut, accordion
  • May 23: Büşra Kayıkçı – Weaving (EP)
Catalogue:
  • May 16: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau – Complete Lieder & Songs on Warner Classics (79CDs)
  • May 23: Georges Bizet Edition (16CDs)

Upcoming U.S. performances by Warner Classics & Erato artists

Associated labels: EuroArts

Canto per te
Ștefan Pop, tenor
Digital / CD
Release date: April 4

Romanian-born tenor Ștefan Pop releases an album of Italian canzonettas by D’Anzi, Leoncavallo, Boncompagni, Bixio, Ferilli, Califano, Dalla, Modugno, Rascel, Tosti, De Curtis, di Capua, Cardillo, and Denza. Operalia winner Pop may be seen in the title role of Faust at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, this May.

Heggie & Scheer: Before It All Goes Dark
Music of Remembrance Ensemble / Joseph Mechavich
Digital only
Release date: April 25

This is the world premiere recording of Jake Heggie’s new opera, Before It All Goes Dark. The opera tells the true and compelling story of Gerald “Mac” McDonald, a gravely ill and deeply troubled Vietnam War veteran. Mac grew up poor, angry, and disenfranchised in the suburbs of Chicago, where his family’s Jewish ancestry remained hidden from him. That changed when he was tracked down by journalist Howard Reich, as part of an investigation inspired by Reich’s own family’s Holocaust experiences. When Mac learns that he is heir to a priceless art collection that was stolen by the Nazis, the two men travel to Eastern Europe together, to uncover secrets from the past.

Associated labels: RCO Live

Theo Loevendie: Flexio / Six Turkish Folk Poems
Polly Leech, mezzo-soprano
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Bas Wiegers
Digital / CD
Release date: April 4

Captured live in concert on October 13, 2023, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and conductor Bas Wiegers perform Theo Loevendie’s Flexio and Six Turkish Folk Poems, featuring mezzo-soprano Polly Leech.

Recent Warner Classics signing

Lyyra: The Hymn of Acxiom
Lyyra
Digital single
Release date: March 7

Warner Classics has signed an exclusive agreement with Lyyra, the new all-women’s vocal ensemble that is already becoming known for its “exceptional versatility and skill” (BBC Radio 3). The first recording under this new partnership is a digital single of Vienna Teng’s evocative song The Hymn of Acxiom, released on March 7 to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Lyyra embarks on a U.S. tour this April, with dates in Terre Haute, IN (April 8); Riverside, IL (April 10); Chicago, IL (April 11); Kalamazoo, MI (April 12); New Providence, NJ (April 25); and Albuquerque, NM (April 27).

February news release
March news release

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