Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Cecilia's big brother, Filmster, has now been upgraded to a movie recommendation website! Go check out FilmsterOnline.com to find the best films on iTunes, according their selections by a variety of cinema authorities (festivals, award ceremonies, expert polls, and more). Cecilia might eventually experience the same upgrade... Stay tuned!

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2015

The Gramophone Awards for the best classical music recordings of 2015 have been announced! However the Recording of the Year will be only revealed at the award ceremony on September 17. The winners of the 12 categories were chosen among 72 shortlisted recordings.
  • Baroque VocalMonteverdi: Vespri solenni per la festa di San Marco, by Concerto Italiano / Rinaldo Alessandrini
  • ChamberSmetana: String Quartets No 1, ‘From my life’ & 2, by Pavel Haas Quartet 
  • ChoralElgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Sea Pictures, by Sarah Connolly, Stuart Skelton, David Soar bass BBC SO and Chorus / Sir Andrew Davis 
  • ConcertoBeethoven: Piano Concertos Nos 3 & 4, by Maria João Pires and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Daniel Harding 
  • ContemporaryNørgård: Symphonies Nos 1 & 8, by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Sakari Oramo
  • Early Music‘The Spy’s Choirbook’, by Alamire; English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble / David Skinner
  • InstrumentalBach: English Suites Nos 1, 3 & 5, by Piotr Anderszewski
  • OperaR Strauss: Elektra, by Orchestre de Paris / Esa-Pekka Salonen (DVD)
  • OrchestralBruckner: Symphony No 9, by Lucerne Festival Orchestra / Claudio Abbado
  • Recital‘A French Baroque Diva’, by Carolyn Sampson sop Ex Cathedra / Jeffrey Skidmore
  • Solo VocalSchubert: ‘Nachtviolen’, by Christian Gerhaher bar Gerold Huber
These beautiful recordings will soon join the rich selection of Cecilia Music.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Cecilia

Cecilia is a free iOS app for iPhone and iPad that helps you find the best albums on iTunes or Apple Music.

It offers a choice of 3000 albums that were selected by reputable music awards, magazines and websites:

  • Grammy Awards
  • Pitchfork
  • Rolling Stone
  • The Guardian
  • Consequence of Sound
  • Gramophone Awards (classical)
  • Diapason d'Or (classical)
  • Downbeat (jazz)

The albums for the Grammy Awards include all the nominees for the Best Album Awards, together with the winners of Best Pop Album, Best Electro Album, Best Rock Album, Best R&B Album, and Best Rap Album.

The Top 50 Albums selected by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and Consequence of Sound are listed for each year back to the early 2000s. There are also Top 100 lists by Pitchfork for previous decades.

The Gramophone Awards are the most prestigious honors for classical music. They cover a dozen categories such as Concerto, Chamber, Opera, Choral, Early Music, Baroque, Orchestral, etc. The winners of each year are listed, back to 1990.

The Diapason d'Or de l'Année are also very important awards for classical music.

The critics of the magazine Down Beat publish their favorite albums each year in four categories: Jazz, Historical, Blues, and Beyond.

Enjoy many beautiful albums thank to Cecilia!

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Happy news!

Cecilia is Filmster's little sister. It finds the most awesome albums on iTunes for you.
Stay tuned!