The Cardinal and the Roller, in all it's storytelling and collaboration, captures the power of music to bridge worlds and connect to the shared humanity within us all. At it's heart is the coming together of two ensembles: an American choir led by Dr. Cameron LaBarr and a South African choir led by Dr. Michael Barrett. The Missouri State University Chorale and the University of Pretoria (TUKS) Camerata are both highly respected choral ensembles, yet they differ in many ways. By all expectations, the distinct cultures and sounds of these choirs should not seamlessly work, yet from the very first note they sang together, it was unmistakably clear that this would be an extraordinary project. The album features sixteen tracks, equally representing musical traditions from the United States and South Africa. Ultimately, The Cardinal and the Roller encapsulates the spirit of this album. It reminds us that at the core of humanity lies in a deep longing for connection, integrity, and purpose-to live meaningfully and in harmony with one another. It is our hope that this album creates space for reflection and emotion, and that it leaves you with a renewed sense of hope and joy.

SOMM Recordings is delighted to present Vol. 1 in a new series that offers remastered performances of George Szell in New York. This first volume features live performances of Franck's Symphony in D minor and Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 from CBS Radio air checks made at Carnegie Hall with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York-an earlier moniker of the present-day New York Philharmonic Orchestra. These recordings come from the extensive music collection of producer and master sound restoration and remastering engineer, Lani Spahr, who also provides highly conversant liner notes for this album. When George Szell (1897 - 1970) was appointed the Cleveland Orchestra's fourth music director in 1946, and spent the next 24 years of his legendary tenure honing it into one of the finest music ensembles in the world, his name became synonymous with the orchestra. To this symbiotic relationship, he brought his formidable experience with a variety of orchestras in both his native Europe and the United States. Szell's first conducting experience in America was in 1930, when he made his debut with the St. Louis Symphony. In October 1939, he and his wife, Helene, arrived in New York, having decided to wait out the war in the United States. Though initially finding himself in the unusual position of having no work, Szell started to receive guest-conducting offers from orchestras around the country, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His star began it's rapid rise in New York with his engagement at the Metropolitan Opera in 1942, and he made his debut with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York on the Fourth of July 1943. His relationship with the Philharmonic would span 27 years. Szell conducted the Symphony in D minor by Cesar Franck over 20 times in the United States. His first performance with the Philharmonic in New York was on 28 February 1948, and the last was 6 April 1970. This present live recording comes from 6 December 1953. From the early 1950s, the Symphony No. 2 in D major by Jean Sibelius was a staple of Szell's programming, and he performed it more than 60 times. He conducted it with the Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall on 15 and 16 January 1953, and again on 18, whence this broadcast originates. In the minds of many, the orchestra that George Szell honed in Cleveland would never be equalled for it's disciplined execution, unparalleled clarity, and unanimity of phrasing. Lani Spahr makes the interesting observation that '[w]hen listening to these recordings it becomes obvious that the Philharmonic was, at this time, a superior orchestra, top to bottom, to what Szell was in the process of building in Cleveland.' It is SOMM's privilege to make these recordings available, newly restored.

This recording celebrates the Christmas season and it's music, but above all it offers an opportunity to discover a little-known Catalan composer, Jose de San Juan, one of the most famous of his time in Spain, born in Olot (Girona) in 1687 and who died in Madrid in 1735. The works featured on this album are villancicos, Christmas carols performed in churches, mainly during Christmas Matins (December 24) and Epiphany (January 5). This music is brought back to life by Cantoria, a vocal ensemble specialising in the performance of the Iberian vocal repertoire of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods - their first album, recorded at the Centre culturel d'Ambronay in 2022, won the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik - and by it's founder, the singer Jorge Losana. Born in Murcia and now based in Barcelona, he is deeply committed to promoting the Spanish repertoire and cultural decentralisation through his extensive artistic and educational work.

Vivantes brings together the Katok Ensemble, led by Paul Serri, and the Belgian composer Patrick Leterme for a programme conceived at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi. Spanning works by Maurice Ravel and Guillaume Lekeu, alongside a new composition for string quintet - Racines, Ailes, Brises - the music explores an organic connection to life, nourished by immersion in nature and the resonance of texts by George Sand, Romain Gary and Vinciane Despret. Leterme deploys a particularly precise style of composition, whose deliberate fragility transforms sensitivity itself into a form of resistance.

With her debut album Time and Gravity, Georgian pianist Irma Gigani turns to Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas Nos. 2, 4, and 8. For the artist, time and gravity serve as metaphors for the human condition: time as an unstoppable flow between memory, hope, and the present moment; gravity as the invisible force of attraction and energy. In Prokofiev's richly layered musical language, she finds the ideal space to explore these ideas-balancing personal expression with the universal themes of human existence, between freedom and constraint, love and pain, beauty and the abyss. Born in Tbilisi in 1996, Irma Gigani is regarded as one of the most remarkable pianists of her generation. Already as a child, she won numerous international competitions and appeared as a soloist with renowned orchestras throughout Europe and Israel. Her concert engagements have taken her to France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Romania, and beyond. She has performed at prestigious venues including the Musikverein in Vienna, the Salle Cortot in Paris, and-performing Bach's Goldberg Variations-the Konzerthaus Berlin, Vatican City in Rome, and many others.

Amen Feizabadi presents his new chamber opera, 'Deep Siesta', on his portrait album. It tells the story of the artificial beings ok and Mani, who - born of digital chaos - discover the world with curiosity and an open mind. They encounter beauty and emotions, but also the contradictions and abysses of the human condition, and resolve to destroy humanity and, ultimately, themselves. With 'Deep Siesta', Feizabadi dares to offer a radical shift in perspective on the ubiquitous discourse surrounding artificial intelligence: we experience human existence from the AI's point of view. Through the protagonists' eyes, we look as though through a prism, in which our own reflection is shattered into it's myriad components and appears alien and shadowy to us. The 85-minute work 'Deep Siesta' focuses on acoustic music - performed by the Zafraan Ensemble and the Neue Vocalsolisten. However, the boundary between reality and virtuality becomes increasingly blurred by AI-generated voices, images and electronic sound effects. Dilek Mayatürk's libretto also enters into a dialogue with the aimless AI. Starting with scattered fragments of words and progressing to more complex linguistic connections, it builds to an emotional climax in the shift from German to Persian. This is interwoven with auratic elements of traditional Persian music, in an attempt at a universal reinterpretation.

The Promise: Jazz Inspired Music for Advent and Christmas brings together two distinct programmes by English composer Will Todd, performed by St Martin's Voices and the Will Todd Ensemble under director Andrew Earis. The centrepiece is The Promise, Todd's third large-scale jazz oratorio, commissioned by the Soochow University Alumni Choir and premiered in Taiwan in December 2025, setting Advent and Christmas texts alongside an original lyric by the composer. The album also presents a new recording of Todd's popular jazz carol arrangements, originally commissioned by St Martin-in-the-Fields in 2012 and reissued here in updated editions, with St Martin's Brass.

Printing music was expensive in the 18th century and copying manuscripts was commonplace. The works in this premiere recording are part of a collection of five volumes of recorder music titled Sinfonie dei varij autori bearing the name Paolo Antonio Parensi (1688-1749), who was thought to have been an amateur musician in Lucca, Italy. Several of the works in this collection are by Robert Valentine (c. 1674-1747) but there is little know about his life: he was from Leicester, England, but left for Rome in his early 20's to carve out his career. We don't know what his connection to Parensi was, but this collection is a hugely valuable source of Italian recorder repertoire from the earlier part of the 18th century. Several of his sonatas were also published by Walsh & Hare, but this premiere recording presents his Opus 11 as it appears in Parensi manuscript, as 12 recorder and basso continuo sonatas. Valentine wrote over 60 works for the recorder - his output makes him one of the most prolific composers of recorder repertoire in the early 18th century.

For his debut solo album, Zachary Hatcher explores the contrasts that define the harp: the shift between ancient and modern and the thin line between dreams and nightmares. The album is built around Zachary's own transcription of Maurice Ravel's Ondine. The piece has long been absent from the harp repertoire because of it's immense difficulty; Zachary is currently the only harpist performing it. This focus on the outer limits of the instrument continues with his own Sonata for solo harp, a work in three movements-Burlesque, Waltz, and Prayer-that reflects his recent return to composition. The album also features Consolation and Swan Descending, two works by Per Norgård that capture a specific Nordic introspection, as well as Paul Hindemith's Sonata and Henriette Renie's Piece Symphonique; these two works, while standard for harpists, are stylistically unusual for their composers.

Debut album of the outstanding Czech violinist Jan Mracek The debut album of Jan Mracek, concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, introduces one of the leading Czech violinists of his generation in repertoire that combines virtuosity, lyricism, and youthful energy. The album's centrepiece is Josef Suk's Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 24, one of the crowning achievements of the Czech violin repertoire, reflecting the composer on the threshold of his mature creative period. The work combines a solo part of exceptional technical difficulty with rich orchestral colours and characteristic melodic invention. Accompanying Jan Mracek are the Czech Philharmonic under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, a world-famous conductor with a deep affinity for Czech music. Suk's Fantasy is paired with two early Romantic works with the soloist accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. Franz Schubert's enchanting Rondo in A major for Violin and Strings blends melodic grace, elegance, and immediacy of expression. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy wrote his Concerto in D minor for Violin and Chamber Orchestra at the beginning of his career at just 13 years of age. The work nonetheless exhibits noteworthy compositional assurance, a keen sense of form, and confident handling of the solo part. In all three compositions, Jan Mracek shows himself to be a performer combining technical brilliance with musical intelligence, stylistic sensitivity, and natural musicianship, and he is able to capture the individual character of each work.

Metier presents the world premiere recording of Sinan C. Savaskan's captivating Concerto Eleven Conditions of Responsibility, written for and performed by the Octandre Ensemble, under conductor Jonathan Hargreaves. Savaskan has had a long association with the ensemble, having served as their inaugural Composer-in-Residence. Conceived as part of the composer's ongoing epic cycle Many Stares through Semi-Nocturnal Zeiss-Blink, Eleven Conditions of Responsibility embodies Savaskan's radical approach to composition. His constructivist methodology means that all the parameters of his music are dependent on the formal architecture, itself based on the behaviour and properties of sound and it's circular, logarithmic characteristics, giving rise to intricate, evocative works. During the COVID period when everyday life was so different, Savaskan read works by Henri Bergson and emile Durkheim, scholars from the turn of the 19th century, altering the way he thought about the fourth dimension - 'duration' (rather than time), space, and our attitude to commitments, therefore responsibilities. Savaskan came up with eleven of his own responsibilities, and became aware of how we conceptualise and adopt them. This became the basis for eleven thematic segments spread across the 3 main sections of the Concerto, 'little icons, as it were, to meditate upon', which each have their own fundamental pitch and related pulse. Circular Functions, the particular harmonic/structural method he has developed over the past 45 years, dictates how these segments are integrated into the three larger harmonic arcs. The three sections of 'Eleven Conditions of Responsibility' are modules 141, 148, and 11 of the cycle Many Stares through Semi-Nocturnal Zeiss-Blink, projected eventually to contain 360 pieces, reflecting the contemplation of a particular static object from different angles, covering 360 degrees. The pieces are assigned numbers which refer in some way to important dates in their conception. In December 2015, Savaskan's Many Stares through semi-nocturnal Zeiss-blink (Module 30), an Octandre commission, won a BASCA British Composer Award. Sinan C. Savaskan is based in London, as a composer, lecturer, and teacher of composition, and was Head of Academic Music at Westminster School for thirty-seven years. His music has been commissioned, performed, and broadcast in over thirty countries by some of the foremost performers, ensembles, and orchestras. In 2000, Savaskan was selected as the recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts' prestigious Grants to Artists Award - the first British composer to receive this award. He has also written much ballet and incidental music, as well as music for film. In 2025, Metier Records released Sinan Savaskan's album of music for solo flute and electronics, The Sleep of Reason, with celebrated flautist Noemi Gyori, an arresting collection of works exploring the full expressive range of the flute. The Octandre Ensemble was formed in 2011 by composer Christian Mason and conductor Jon Hargreaves, their core repertoire being music written after 1945, with an emphasis on timbre and ritual. ?

Julius Eastman: Gay Guerilla presents three landmark works by one of the most compelling and visionary voices in late 20th-century music. Performed by the New European Ensemble under the artistic direction of Emlyn Stam, this recording explores Eastman's unique concept of 'organic music,' where repetition, accumulation, and performer agency create powerful, ever-evolving musical landscapes. Featuring Joy Boy, Buddha, and Gay Guerilla, the album reveals a composer whose music remains as urgent, fearless, and emotionally charged today as ever.  Far more than a historical rediscovery, this recording embraces Eastman's music as a living artistic practice. Drawing on Jessie Montgomery's acclaimed arrangement of Gay Guerilla alongside imaginative interpretations of two rarely heard ensemble works, the New European Ensemble captures the spirit of collaboration, experimentation, and social engagement that lies at the heart of Eastman's legacy. The result is a gripping and thought-provoking journey through music that challenges conventions while celebrating collective creativity, resilience, and hope for a more just future.

When, in the summer of 1869, the 29-year-old Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) received the suggestion from Mily Balakirev (1837-1910) to compose an overture to Romeo and Juliet, he was coming into his mature years, and was still a somewhat newly minted professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Like many of history's great composers, he was intended for the legal profession, and had from the age of 14 pursued that path rigorously in Saint Petersburg, eventually securing a job with the Ministry of Justice (1859-1862). Yet, from early childhood, he had shown a strong musical intuition, and an especial affinity for Mozart, whose music it was Tchaikovsky's 'sacred delight' to hear. When it was announced that the Russian Musical Society would open a conservatory in Saint Petersburg in 1862, Tchaikovsky enrolled, abandoning his legal career and maturing extraordinarily quickly under the guidance of Anton Rubinstein. From his mentor he absorbed the compositional process he would employ throughout his career: to sketch quickly to the end of the work before scoring, and to view his calling as a sacred responsibility.

In celebration of the 25th-anniversary of London Handel Players in 2025, SOMM Recordings released Telemann 'Paris' Quartets, Volume 1 [SOMMCD 0698]. Critics lauded the album for it's deep affection and impeccable musicianship, with Gramophone highlighting flautist Rachel Brown's 'easy agility' and the group's rich, inviting tone; and BBC Music Magazine praising their attention to subtle, expressive details. Now, SOMM is releasing Telemann 'Paris' Quartets, Volume 2 with LHP, featuring once again leading period-instrument specialists Rachel Brown flute; Adrian Butterfield violin; Gavin Kibble viola da gamba; Sarah McMahon cello; and Silas Wollston harpsichord. In 1737, Georg Philipp Telemann paid a long-awaited celebrity visit to Paris at the invitation of four prominent French musicians: flute virtuoso Michel Blavet; Franco-Italian violinist Jean-Pierre Guignon; viol player Jean-Baptiste Forqueray the younger, and an unidentified cellist-harpsichordist known in the historical records as Prince edouard. In preparation for this visit and in admiration of the musicians, Telemann had composed six Quadri, for flute, violin, viola da gamba or cello, and continuo. Telemann was one of the first great self-publishers, and his publication of the Quadri was such a success that the Parisian publisher Le Clerc brought out an edition without the composer's permission. This, finally, was the spur for Telemann to take an eight month leave of absence from his full schedule in Hamburg to visit Paris. While there, he composed a second set of quartets-the six Nouveaux Quatuors recorded here. It was in the second half of the twentieth century that the editors of the Telemann Musikalische Werke collectively named these two sets of quartets the 'Paris quartets.' Like the earlier set of Quadri, the six Nouveaux Quatuors are scored for flute, violin, viola da gamba, and continuo, with an optional adaptation of the gamba part for cello. The set comprises six suites, each with six or seven movements, and Telemann exploits countless ways of combining the instruments to create a huge variety of textures. All twelve quartets were played during Telemann's Parisian visit by the four musicians who had invited him, with the composer himself at the harpsichord. Paris was taken by storm, and news of the quartets spread throughout Europe, with subscribers to the publication including musicians like Charpentier, Mondonville, Fasch, Pisendel-and a certain Mr Bach of Leipzig. Telemann's sojourn in Paris left a lasting impression on him. Two years after returning to Hamburg, he reported on the effect of his quartets: 'The admirable performances of these quartets would be worth describing were it possible for words to be found to do them justice. In short, they procured for me in a very little time an almost universal renown and increased esteem.'

Drummer composer Steve Johns returns to SteepleChase with Extrasensory, his most fully realized statement since his acclaimed 2024 release Mythology (SCCD 31971). Reuniting the same core ensemble - guitarist John Hart, vibraphonist/harmonica player Monte Croft, pianist Greg Murphy, and bassist Joris Teepe - Johns builds on the band's deepening chemistry, now sharpened by the fiery presence of saxophonist Troy Roberts on select tracks. The program highlights Johns' dual gifts: modern, structurally inventive writing and dynamic, deeply musical drumming shaped by decades on the New York scene. Contrafacts, reharmonized standards, soulful vocals, and vibrant originals form a wide stylistic arc, from angular modern swing to luminous ballads and earthy shuffles. Throughout, Johns shapes textures and grooves with masterful clarity, guiding a group whose intuitive interplay truly earns the album's title. Extrasensory affirms Johns as a drummer leader of imagination and unmistakable voice. 'Mythology' is an album full of imagination, stories and some fantastic playing by this amazing lineup of world-class musicians.' (A Green Review on SCCD 31971)

With Oltremare, acclaimed harpist Danielle Riegel offers a deeply personal tribute to the music of Ludovico Einaudi, reimagining some of his most beloved works through the intimate voice of the Celtic harp. Inspired by the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean and a shared artistic journey toward simplicity, presence, and emotional honesty, Riegel transforms Einaudi's timeless melodies into luminous, meditative soundscapes that invite reflection and deep listening. From the flowing waves of the title work Oltremare to the quiet beauty of Nuvole Bianche, I Giorni, and selections from Einaudi's album 'Underwater', this recording explores music as a space of connection - between performer and listener, nature and emotion, stillness and imagination. Spacious, organic, and profoundly expressive, Oltremare is an immersive listening experience that carries familiar music beyond the horizon, revealing new colours, depth, and serenity.

Ensemble Altera, directed by it's founder Christopher Lowrey, presents The Four Elements, a journey through wind, earth, water, fire and, finally, quintessence-the ancient idea of a fifth essence. Across five chapters, music from the Renaissance to the present explores these forces not as fixed substances but as living metaphors: breath and inspiration, rootedness and belonging, stillness and flow, passion and transformation, and what may lie beyond the material world. Known for imaginative programming and a warm, focused transatlantic sound, Ensemble Altera brings together music by William Byrd, Charles Villiers Stanford, Eriks Esenvalds, Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, Owain Park, Rebecca Dale and others. The programme pairs choral landmarks with new commissions and fresh arrangements, including world-premiere recordings of Michael Garrepy's Flame of Love and Daniel Gledhill's For the beauty of the earth, winner of Ensemble Altera's 2021 Composition Competition. The result is a vividly shaped meditation on nature, humanity and imagination, moving from the first breath of wind to the stillness of quintessence.

In their new album 'DNA' Anouchka & Katharina Hack explore life in artistic families, deep connections and the passing down of musical language, placing creativity and humanity at the center of their work. They created an intimate duo programme that brings artistic heritage, inspiration and personal identity to life with works by Dvorak, Janacek, Schumann, and the Boulanger family. It is a rich blend of classical music, film music ('Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella') and chanson ('La Boheme')?, expanded with contemporary works, solo cello pieces, and improvisational elements.

This album from St Martin's Voices under director Andrew Earis brings together eighteen Christmas choral works by a wide range of contemporary composers. Telling the story of the nativity, music by Cecilia McDowall, Gabriel Jackson and James Whitbourn is featured alongside pieces from the next generation of choral composers including Grace-Evangeline Mason, Kerensa Briggs and Emily Hazrati. From settings of ancient texts such as O magnum mysterium and Adam lay ybounden to more modern poetry by Ursula Askham Fanthorpe and Charles Anthony Silvestri, the music spans a variety of styles and moods. Thoughtfully curated and stylishly performed, these premiere recordings narrate the Christmas story from prophecy to birth, adding fresh material to the festive repertoire and highlighting the ongoing creativity of British choral music.

Tenor saxophonist Matt Garcia makes a compelling SteepleChase debut with Three's Up, revealing a mature voice shaped by deep study, hard work, and a fast rising presence on the New York scene. A Texas native now at Juilliard, Garcia brings a blend of tradition with modern clarity that reflects his years in NYO Jazz (Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra), his award winning early career, and formative mentorship from artists such as Dave Pietro and Christian McBride. Joined by bassist Martin Wind and drummer Billy Drummond, he leads a vibrant trio through standards, bebop classics, and five originals that highlight his melodic focus and rhythmic drive. Pieces like 'White Silence' and 'Dance's Dance' showcase a young composer with a clear artistic identity. Three's Up introduces a tenor saxophonist whose expressive depth mark him as a significant new voice to watch.