The Glass Box, the 10-CD Nonesuch retrospective covering 40 years of the works of Philip Glass, hits stores today, just one day after the New York City Opera announced that it has commissioned the composer to create a new opera on the life of another iconic American figure, Walt Disney. The new work for City Opera will be Glass's 24th opera and will honor his 75th birthday when it premieres in 2012–2013. In the nearer future, City Opera has scheduled Glass's Einstein on the Beach for 2009–2010; it will be the company's first production in its newly refurbished home at Lincoln Center.

Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile released their debut duo album on Nonesuch this week, as well as a deluxe version of the recording with a DVD of performance videos and a behind-the-scenes look at their collaborative process. Tonight, in Boulder, Colorado, they launch a month-long tour that will come to a close at Carnegie Hall. Northern Colorado's Longmont Times-Call speaks with Thile about working with his hero and concludes that tonight's audience is in for "a shot at transcendence."

Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile's self-titled debut duo album is due out tomorrow, and their month-long tour of the States in support of the record kicks off Thursday in Boulder, Colorado. New York Times critic Nate Chinen writes that, though "the mandolin ace" and "the accomplished bassist" first came together almost a decade ago as "prodigy with his mentor," the new collection "wisely presents them as equals," featuring "a busy dialogue between bluegrass and classical music, with blinding displays of dexterity as well as stretches of poplike lyricism."

John Adams's latest opera, A Flowering Tree, receives its first recording with the Nonesuch release out Tuesday, followed by Hallelujah Junction, a two-CD Adams retrospective and memoirs of the same name. "Adams's sound-world is still expanding," writes The New Statesman. "In this, the composer's seventh decade, his musical fertility still springs anew." Pitchfork gives A Flowering Tree an 8.4, asserting: "There are few living American composers writing works as universal and relevant as John Adams—and that deserves everybody's attention." The Telegraph, in its review of the forthcoming book, declares: "A musician's memoir would probably not be your first choice for light reading, but make an exception for Hallelujah Junction."

Philip Glass is featured in The Independent on Sunday with a preview of his forthcoming Nonesuch retrospective, the 10-CD Glass Box. Glass gives insight into a few of his most renowned collaborations, including his groundbreaking 1976 work with Robert Wilson, Einstein on the Beach, and his score to Martin Scorsese's Kundun, both featured on The Glass Box; as well as his work with artists like Doris Lessing, David Bowie, Brian Eno, and Leonard Cohen.

Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer will preview their forthcoming, self-titled debut duo album tonight in a special concert at the Aspen Music Festival. On the record, due out September 23 and available now for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store, are 12 original songs by the two musicians. There's also a deluxe version that includes a 50-minute DVD with performances, rehearsals, and behind-the-scenes footage with Edgar and Chris. The Aspen Times says Chris's first Nonesuch record, Punch, with the Punch Brothers, takes "acoustic music to an appreciably higher level."

All this week, to celebrate the release of Randy Newman's Harps and Angels, Nonesuch.com is presenting new videos with interviews and performances by Randy featuring songs from the new record. Today at nonesuch.com/media, Randy discusses the unforgettable, inspirational story behind "Losing You," which BBC calls "two minutes and 16 seconds of wonder: a perfect gem shining in the darkness," followed by a solo performance at the piano.

Today marks the long-awaited release of Randy Newman's Harps and Angels, and the reviews continue to come in, with the Associate Press saying that Randy "has produced a record to rival his best work, and it may be the best album of 2008." At noon ET, NPR will broadcast a recent concert Randy gave in which he and his band performed the new record in its entirety. Also from NPR, All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen invited Randy to guest DJ this week's show. "I really liked his older stuff," says Boilen of Randy. "I like him better when he's older."

The critical response on Randy Newman's latest release, Harps and Angels, has already started pouring in from both sides of the Atlantic. The Times (UK) gives the album five stars, concluding: "The man's a master." The Los Angeles Times has a feature profile of Randy, whom it says "has plumbed the depths and shallows of the American psyche with greater consistency than perhaps any of his contemporaries." Also, Huffington Post contributor David Wild proclaims as the Greatest Song of All Time Randy's much-covered tune "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," calling Newman's 2003 version "probably the most powerful and shaded piece of music I could ever imagine," and adding that Harps and Angels "is one of the best ever albums from the modern musical master who gave us all the greatest song of all-time."

On Friday, Nonesuch.com featured a video of Randy performing "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country," from his latest release, Harps and Angels, out this week. To mark the album's release, all this week we'll be adding new videos of interviews with Randy in which he talks about that and other songs on the album, as well as more videos of Randy at the piano performing some of those songs. Today at nonesuch.com/media, you'll find a video of Randy discussing and playing "Potholes," which he calls "the most absolutely honest song I've ever written."

The Los Angeles Times called "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" "so funny it hurt," and Rolling Stone named it among the Best Singles of 2007. It's now featured on Harps and Angels, Randy's latest Nonesuch release. You can watch a video performance of the song from last year on the Nonesuch Media page, and check back next week for all-new video features celebrating the release of the new album.

Ry Cooder's new album, I, Flathead, releases today and follows Chavez Ravine (2005) and My Name Is Buddy (2007) as the third and final album in Cooder's California trilogy. Two versions of the new record are available: the standard CD as well as a deluxe package with both the CD and the accompanying 95-page novella that Ry wrote in conjunction with the album songs, told from the perspective of the fictitious musician Kash Buk and featuring an oddball cast of characters and car obsessives from California's drag-racing salt flats in the 1960s.