- Born 1985 in a remote town in South Africa, Pretty Yende was first introduced to operatic music at the age of sixteen when hearing the Flower Duet from Delibes's opera Lakmé in a British Airways commercial. At that moment she decided to become an opera singer.

- Yende rose to the top of the opera world with unparalleled speed, with competition successes and engagements at the world's foremost opera houses.

- First artist in history to win first prize in every category of the International Belvedere Competition (2009) and prizewinner at Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition (2011), again in all categories.

- Debut at La Scala in Milan (2010) and acceptance into their prestigious young artists' program.

- International breakthrough at her sensational Metropolitan Opera debut at the age of 27 in 2013.

- Each track on Pretty Yende's debut recording celebrates a milestone of her extraordinary musical journey.

Sep 16, 2016

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Pretty Yende, a rising star soprano with a modern fairy-tale story, releases her debut album A Journey on Sony Classical. Available September 16, this recording has been a joyful labor of love for Yende, as it celebrates the milestones in her extraordinary musical journey, rising to the top of the opera world with unparalleled speed.

Yende was born in 1985 in the small remote town of Piet Retief, about three hundred miles from Johannesburg. At the age of sixteen, her life was transformed by hearing the "Flower Duet" from Delibes's opera Lakmé on a British Airways television commercial. On learning that this haunting music was opera, she decided at that moment to abandon her plans to become an accountant and train to become an opera singer instead. Soon she gained a scholarship to study at the South African College of Music in Cape Town with Professor Virginia Davids, the first black woman to appear on opera stages during the apartheid years in South Africa. With Davids's help, Yende's extraordinary talent blossomed and she was taken from a childhood in a remote village in South Africa to all of the major opera stages of the world.

Besides the much-loved Lakmé duet (performed with mezzo Kate Aldrich) which first opened her heart to the world of opera, her debut recording includes the touching scene "Vous que l'on dit" from Rossini's Le Comte Ory. In this opera, Yende gained dazzling international recognition when she replaced Nino Machaidze and starred opposite Juan Diego Flórez at her last-minute Metropolitan Opera debut in New York in January 2013. Her appearance in Le Comte Ory was received with rapturous acclaim and became a major turning-point in her career. "Her voice has a luminous sheen combined with steely resolve … she delivered some of the most difficult coloratura passages with scintillating precision," said The New York Times. Immediately afterward, she stepped in for an indisposed Cecilia Bartoli in the same role at the Theater an der Wien.

Another opera close to her heart is Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. Her connection with the character of Juliet clearly runs deep, for she sang Juliet's "Je veux vivre" with such passion and conviction at the illustrious Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna in 2009 that she became the first artist ever to win first prize in every single category. Yende's performance of the so-called "Poison Aria," recorded on her debut album, also led to her acceptance on the acclaimed young artists' program at La Scala. Shortly after, in 2010, she made her stage debut there.

With "Ah, la pena" from Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda, Yende continued her success at international competitions. This time, she stole the show in Plácido Domingo's renowned Operalia Competition in 2011: again, she was the first singer in history to receive not only the first prize but also the prize of the public and the Zarzuela prize. Plácido Domingo raved that "it was instantly clear to everyone there that she was ready for the world's greatest stages. She has an extraordinarily beautiful voice with a phenomenal technique, and she lights up the stage with charisma."

A particularly significant and moving event for the young singer came when she returned to her homeland in 2013 to sing the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in Cape Town. From this opera, she has chosen the much-loved aria "Regnava nel silenzio." The recording also includes Rossini's famous "Una voce poco fa" from Il barbiere di Siviglia (the opera of her Paris Opéra debut). Pretty makes yet another debut when she sings the role of Elvira from Bellini's I puritani, the last track on her album, in Zurich in 2016.

Yende has already appeared at major opera houses in Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Hamburg and Paris, and has frequently sung at her 'home theatre' of La Scala. Forthcoming seasons will also see her appear at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, the Royal Opera House in London, the Opéra National de Paris and the Metropolitan Opera.

On her debut album, Pretty Yende performs with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torinounder Marco Armiliato.

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait, Masterworks Broadway and Flying Buddha imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/.

TRACKLISTING

1. Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Act I, No. 5: Una voce poco fa
2. Delibes: Lakmé, Act I,No. 2: Viens, Mallika... Sous le dôme épais ("Flower Duet") with Kate Aldrich      
3. Bellini: Beatrice di Tenda, Act I, Scene VI: Ma la sola, ohimè! son io... Ah, la pena in lor  piombò
4. Rossini: Le comte Ory, Act I, Scene VIII, No. 4: En proie à la tristesse... Vous que l'on dit sensible
5. Gounod: Roméo et Juliette, Act IV, No. 17: Dieu, quel frisson court dans mes veines!...Amour ranime mon courage
6. Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor, Act I, No. 3: Ancor non giunse!... Regnava nel silenzio
7. Bellini:I puritani, Act II: O rendetemi la speme... Qui la voce sua soave

Website: prettyyende.com | Facebook: PrettyYendeOfficial | Twitter: @PrettyYende | Instagram:  pretty_yende_official

Media Contacts:
Angela Barkan | Larissa Slezak | Sony Music Masterworks
212.833.8575 / 6075 / [email protected] / [email protected]

Photo - https://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160916/408759

SOURCE Sony Classical

Available September 16, 2016

Sep 16, 2016

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Classical proudly announces the release of The Magnificent Seven (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), featuring music by James Horner and Simon Franglen. The soundtrack will be available on CD and digital formats on September 16^th 2016. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures' and Columbia Pictures' in association with LStar Capital and Village Roadshow Pictures' upcoming film The Magnificent Seven will arrive in theatres nationwide on Friday, September 23^rd 2016.

ABOUT JAMES HORNER
Having composed the music for more than 130 film and television productions, including dozens of the most memorable and successful films of the past three decades, James Horner was one of the world's most prolific and celebrated film composers. Horner earned two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his music for James Cameron's Titanic (Best Original Score and the Best Original Song "My Heart Will Go On"), eight Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, and won six Grammy awards. Known for his stylistic diversity, his film credits included Titanic (the largest selling instrumental score album in history, having sold more than 27 million copies worldwide), Avatar, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Braveheart, Legends of the Fall, Glory, Field of Dreams and Star Treks II and III. The Magnificent Seven was Horner's final film project.

ABOUT SIMON FRANGLEN
Grammy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated Simon Franglen is a composer most recognized for his collaborations on the scores for four of the top grossing films of all time.  He worked on the multiple award-winning James Cameron films Avatar and Titanic and the critically acclaimed James Bond thrillers Skyfall and Spectre. Franglen also contributed music to the score for Terrence Malick's Voyage of Time, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, premiering at the 2016 Venice Film Festival. In addition to composing music for film, Simon has over four hundred music credits working with pop, classical, and R&B artists, such as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Luciano Pavarotti and Madonna.  Franglen was also commissioned to compose a sky-breaking, 3-dimensional immersive symphonic suite for the Shanghai Tower, which is the tallest building in Asia.  Simon has an impressive career, working with Hollywood's most renowned composers, including John Barry, Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, Alan Silvestri, and most notably James Horner.  Franglen and Horner had a very close working relationship, having collaborated on major films such as Titanic, Avatar, The Amazing Spider-Man, Karate Kid and Southpaw. Simon won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for the smash hit "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic, and received Golden Globe, Grammy Award and World Soundtrack Award nominations for co-writing and producing the theme song "I See You" from Avatar. Franglen is a visiting professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.  Simon resides in England and Los Angeles.

About his work on The Magnificent Seven, Franglen says: "Composer James Horner was a close friend and music hero of mine. I was fortunate to work on at least a dozen of his films, including the monumental Titanic and Avatar. In the Spring of 2015, as we finished the score to Southpaw, director Antoine Fuqua and James were engaged in discussions about The Magnificent Seven, which was to be their next collaboration. In approaching The Magnificent Seven, James knew he'd have to write a score that related to Elmer Bernstein's much-loved theme for the 1960 original, but he also knew that the film scoring language of that older film was not going to work in this modern retelling of Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece Seven Samurai. The challenges energized James; we met in London and he excitedly started working on themes while Antoine was beginning to film with his remarkable cast in Louisiana. A week later tragedy struck. James died in a private plane accident.

We were devastated. In the aftermath, I couldn't stop thinking about the powerful themes that were James' final compositions. It seemed inconceivable that this music would never be heard. I was not alone with those thoughts. James' trusted group of collaborators (including music editors Jim Henrikson and Joe E. Rand, and orchestrator J.A.C. Redford) were unanimous in encouraging [James' longtime music scoring engineer] Simon Rhodes and me to finish prepping the London themes so they could be presented to Antoine. A couple weeks later I was on the set of The Magnificent Seven playing the music to the astonished director, who was overwhelmed by this unexpected gift from his departed friend, a gift that so perfectly 'got' the essence of the movie that Antoine was making, without having ever seen a frame of it.

From there, it was a nine-month process of finishing the film and the score, with all the filmmakers and musicians coming from a place of love and respect for James' music. I hope you can hear the outpouring of goodwill that everyone involved has shown, from the passion that the orchestra put into every note, to the support that Antoine, Roger Birnbaum and MGM have shown throughout the process. I believe that the music as it has been completed reflects James Horner's spirit. As you listen, remember James, and as he would have always insisted, hear the soul of the film in the score."

The track list of The Magnificent Seven (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is as follows:

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait, Masterworks Broadway and Flying Buddha imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/.

ABOUT THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Director Antoine Fuqua brings his modern vision to a classic story in The Magnificent Seven, presented by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Columbia Pictures in association with LStar Capital and Village Roadshow Pictures. With the town of Rose Creek under the deadly control of industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), the desperate townspeople, led by Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett), employ protection from seven outlaws, bounty hunters, gamblers and hired guns – Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington), Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), Jack Horne (Vincent D'Onofrio), Billy Rocks (Byung-Hun Lee), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). As they prepare the town for the violent showdown that they know is coming, these seven mercenaries find themselves fighting for more than money. The screenplay is by Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk.  The film is produced by Roger Birnbaum and Todd Black.

On September 23, 2016, justice has a number. #Mag7
This film is not yet rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.

For updates, please visit https://www.facebook.com/Mag7Movie/.

Media Contacts:
Beth Krakower | The Krakower Group | [email protected]
Angela Barkan | Larissa Slezak | Sony Music Masterworks
212.833.8575 / 6075 / [email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Sony Classical