Welcome to the Decca Music Group news for November 2001. Select one of the headlines below to take a look at what's going on this month. If you want to get all this delivered to your email inbox, then don't forget to signup for our newsletters. And if you have any questions to ask us, you can write to us by using our Contact form. See you next month!

In the Studio
Decca Music Group signs Nelson Freire
The Pavarotti Edition - more on Verdi
Eimear Quinn - Through the Lens of a Tear
Coming soon –Decca and Philips DVD online
Universal Classics DVD sampler


In the Studio
Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra are recording in St Petersburg this month. The repertoire is Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Borodin: In the steppes of Central Asia; Balakirev: Islamey; Mirzoian: In memoriam Khatchaturian and Shostakovich War Symphonies (Symphony No. 4).
Also, Sir John Eliot Gardiner is recording Haydn Masses (Vols 2 & 3) Heiligmesse; Paukenmesse; Harmoniemesse in Watford, UK, and Riccardo Chailly is recording Mahler Symphony No 2 in Amsterdam.

Although considered a genius within the piano cognoscenti, Freire is mysteriously undiscovered by the general public. "I first heard him in France a few years ago and was astounded at the sparkle and depth of his music making", enthuses Jean-Hugues Allard, Vice-President of Artists and Repertoire. "Nelson has been concentrating on his music making for many years in an unassuming manner. He has never aggressively sought the limelight in his career; rather he has focused on developing musically with friends, such as Martha Argerich. He has quietly grown into a grand master with great integrity".

For his first album under contract, Freire is currently recording an accessible solo Chopin programme which includes: Sonata in B minor, op.58; the Études op.25 and Trois Nouvelles Études. "It is inside the core repertoire that we actually have the most to discover", Allard continues. "With a repertoire which ranges from Bach to Lutoslawsky, Nelson Freire believes that now is the right time for him to record these particular Chopin works. He feels he has the maturity to say something different. I believe him. Nelson can make each finger sing, producing an original spectrum of colours on the piano. He takes the score and makes it his. It is almost as though he is re-composing the music as he plays. This Chopin recording will be an entirely fresh approach to standard piano repertoire".
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The Pavarotti Edition - Verdi

The Pavarotti Edition as just been released. In the final part of our series, read John Steane's article on Pavarotti's Verdi disc.
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Eimear Quinn - Through the Lens of a Tear

New for November is the haunting and evocative debut album from Irish siren Eimear Quinn, entitled Through the Lens of a Tear and based upon the legendary Celtic love story of Tristan and Iseult. At the moment, the album is only available in Belgium, but check back soon for worldwide release dates. Find out more about Eimear and her new recording at www.deccaclassics.com/eimearquinn
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At the moment, we’ve got a page up to show you what to expect later in the month. Don’t forget to come back in December, when we’ll have full product listings and videoclips of every available title.
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Universal Classics DVD sampler
We’ve got more DVD news this month, with the release of our Universal Classics DVD sampler disc at a special low price. Classical music has long awaited the home video format that would do full justice to great performances experienced in the opera house and concert hall. DVD is the medium to provide everything that the dedicated music lover could with for, with broadcast quality pictures, CD quality stereo and all the additional features such as multi-language subtitles and bonus tracks. See our exclusive clips here.

Andrea Bocelli
http://www.deccaclassics.com/media/ram/DVDSampler_Bocelli_ISDN.ram

Swan Lake
http://www.deccaclassics.com/media/ram/DVDSampler_Swanlake_ISDN.ram