Spanning 1816 to 1827, Schubert's works for violin and piano trace a remarkable evolution in his musical voice, though their reception has often obscured their true significance. Revisiting them today reveals a composer whose imagination for the violin was far richer than assumed, from the Classical elegance of the early sonatas to the expansive virtuosity of the Fantasy. Formed in 2022 at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the duo of Ilya Gringolts and Anton Gerzenberg stands out for the ease with which they approach both the classical and romantic repertoire on period instruments, through a historically informed approach, and twentieth-century and contemporary music, without stylistic preclusions. This recording, Ilya Gringolts's second album for Arcana, immediately stands out for the exceptional quality of the instruments used - Gringolts's precious 'ex-Prove' Stradivarius violin, strung with gut strings and a McNulty copy of a Conrad Graf fortepiano (Vienna, c. 1819) - as well as the extensive use of ornamentation and improvisation in the reprises: a bold and unusual choice that the two musicians apply not only to the early Sonatas but also to the later Fantasy.

Victor Julien-Laferriere and Consuelo continue their complete recording of Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonies with a triumphant double bill: the 'Eroica' Symphony, a grand epic that has left it's mark on the history of music, and the whirlwind Seventh, which Richard Wagner would go on to describe as 'the apotheosis of dance'.

At 77 years young, Danish composer Poul Ruders continues to delight and surprise with a seemingly endless flow of masterworks. He can be gloriously, explosively extrovert one minute-withdrawn, haunted, intently inward-looking the next. Super-abundant high spirits alternate with pained, almost expressionistic lyricism; simplicity and directness with astringent irony, all of which can be heard in this program of three new concertos for three very OLD instruments. Transfigurations: A Double Portrait for Recorders and String Orchestra (2022) features Michal Petri on a musical journey in which she takes us on a 'relay run' of the various recorders, from tenor to soprano to alto to sopranino and back again. A Moveable Concerto: Five Short Pieces for Positive Organ and Strings (2023), written at the suggestion of Peter Navarro-Alonso, organist and choir master at the big baroque Copenhagen Church Vor Frelsers Kirke (Our Savior's Church) is a stylistic romp that switches from baroque minimalistic noodling and Dutch barrel organ antics to more contemporary displays. The heart of the work however is the stunning Largo legatissimo where the sounds hang near motionless in the air. The program concludes with the Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra (2019) written for Mahan Esfahani and performed by him and the late Leif Segerstam, a work already recognized as one of this century's most important contributions to harpsichord literature. All of the musicians on these recordings are among the most respected in their field: Michala Petri is internationally recognized as one of the most extraordinary musicians of her generation and has played a decisive role in transforming the recorder from a historical and educational instrument into a respected voice on the world's concert stages. Danish-Spanish organist and composer Peter Navarro-Alonso is recognized as one of the most versatile and innovative musicians on the Scandinavian music scene. Renowned both for his exceptional artistry as an organist and as a visionary composer and Mahan Esfahani, widely regarded as one of the most innovative and intellectually adventurous musicians of our time, whose extraordinary artistry has redefined the role of the harpsichord in modern concert life. An essential recording for all fans of Ruders' music and aficionados of contemporary concertos for unusual instruments.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet continues his survey of works by Beethoven's contemporaries with this second volume featuring works by Hummel., Clementi, Berger, and Czerny. The pianist comments: 'The deeper I delve into the universe of composers contemporaneous with Beethoven, the clearer I perceive the nature of his originality and the power of his genius, that which he was able to take from others, or that which inspired them. Would this series, The Beethoven Connection, then, not have any further aims than to magnify the genius of Beethoven? Of course it does! If I may make a geographical analogy, a great mountain never rises isolated in the landscape. It is always surrounded by other mountains, perhaps not so great but in the absence of which it would not appear so impressive! We had better climb all of them for from each summit we are offered a different view of the others! It is with great enthusiasm that I have prepared this programme, conceived, like that of the first volume, on the counsel of that eminent specialist on this period, my friend Marc Vignal - an enthusiasm which rests on the incontestable qualities of this music and the joy of the opportunity to rediscover it!'

In his compositions Joachim Raff balanced the traditional lineage of Mendelssohn and Schumann with the progressive elements found in the music of Liszt and Wagner. His fondness for the piano suite gave him a suitable canvas to blend and resolve past with present, as he does in the melodically captivating Suite No. 2 in C major. Similarly, he fuses Baroque influences with hints of Lisztian Romantic bravura in his pianistic masterpiece, the Suite No. 4 in D minor. '[Raff] could ask for no better advocate than pianist Hyelim Kim' (Fanfare on Volume 1 in this series).

Antwerp's collegiate church of Our Lady developed into one of the most important musical centres in the Low Countries over the course of the 15th and 16th centuries. This recording traces the lineage of the directors of music and the singers associated with the church, the later cathedral. Their music illustrates how polyphony evolved from it's late mediaeval roots into the early Baroque period. Gregorian chants from the Antwerp tradition are included with the polyphonic works as a reminder of the daily services and their music: there was always singing in the chancel, in the chapels and at the services of brotherhoods and guilds that were spread throughout the day. The name and image of the Virgin Mary were present everywhere, not only in the church's liturgy but also in the daily life of the city. That same connection remains visible today in the many statues of Mary on facades and street corners - even on the facade of the Town Hall - and in the celebration of Mother's Day on the Feast of the Assumption. The programme concludes with the early Baroque period, the era in which Peter Paul Rubens was also active. Peter Philips' Assumpta est Maria shares the same artistic context as Rubens' monumental Assumption of the Virgin in it's place above the high altar of the cathedral of Antwerp.

Bebop Riddle V is by turns sprightly, spry, energetic, and spirited. In this work, Thomas crafted animated, travelling, flexible, versatile, changing, fluid, and buoyant sonic adventures, a bit like two hummingbirds darting around a field of wildflowers. Iridescent, bold, and scintillating, the carefully sculpted and fashioned musical materials of Bebop Riddle V are agile and vivacious, and their flexibility allows pathways to braid harmonic, rhythmic, and contrapuntal elements that are constantly transformed - variously whimsical, jazzy and bebop-like, layered, and reverberating, with lyrical resonance, pirouettes, fulcrum points, and vitality. The two equally virtuosic parts - requiring highly characterized dynamics and articulations, as well as fast fingering changes - sparkle forth for 8 minutes, unfolding fourteen continuously developing phrases, each lasting between 15 and 50 seconds. The music is organic and concerned with transformations and connections at every level. Poetically speaking, this composition has a kind of fractal quality to it - each part has a similar flair, twirl, whirl, pivot, and character as the whole. There are seven additional alternative instrumentation versions for Bebop Riddle V which can be purchased separately.

Swiss-French pianist and theatre artist Maren Gamper presents her first solo album dedicated to the work of Swiss writer, journalist and poet Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942). The album is an improvised reflection on Schwarzenbach's text "Erdenschwere" ("eartly heaviness"). The concept of 'earthly heaviness' is a central theme in the literary work of the Swiss author. It describes existential melancholy, a sense of rootlessness, and the deep inner conflict between a longing for freedom and the weight of one's own life. In her intense, masterful, and captivating performance, Maren Gamper brings to life the emotions and deeper layers of meaning in this text-a performance that will leave no listener unmoved. Recorded on a 1919 Bluther piano in a quiet studio on the Baltic Sea, far from the noise and distractions of everyday life, this album offers a profound meditation and an inner journey through the pain, doubt, and, ultimately, the light and love of human existence.

Bebop Riddle V is by turns sprightly, spry, energetic, and spirited. In this work, Thomas crafted animated, travelling, flexible, versatile, changing, fluid, and buoyant sonic adventures, a bit like two hummingbirds darting around a field of wildflowers. Iridescent, bold, and scintillating, the carefully sculpted and fashioned musical materials of Bebop Riddle V are agile and vivacious, and their flexibility allows pathways to braid harmonic, rhythmic, and contrapuntal elements that are constantly transformed - variously whimsical, jazzy and bebop-like, layered, and reverberating, with lyrical resonance, pirouettes, fulcrum points, and vitality. The two equally virtuosic parts - requiring highly characterized dynamics and articulations, as well as fast fingering changes - sparkle forth for 8 minutes, unfolding fourteen continuously developing phrases, each lasting between 15 and 50 seconds. The music is organic and concerned with transformations and connections at every level. Poetically speaking, this composition has a kind of fractal quality to it - each part has a similar flair, twirl, whirl, pivot, and character as the whole. There are seven additional alternative instrumentation versions for Bebop Riddle V which can be purchased separately.

Bebop Riddle V is by turns sprightly, spry, energetic, and spirited. In this work, Thomas crafted animated, travelling, flexible, versatile, changing, fluid, and buoyant sonic adventures, a bit like two hummingbirds darting around a field of wildflowers. Iridescent, bold, and scintillating, the carefully sculpted and fashioned musical materials of Bebop Riddle V are agile and vivacious, and their flexibility allows pathways to braid harmonic, rhythmic, and contrapuntal elements that are constantly transformed - variously whimsical, jazzy and bebop-like, layered, and reverberating, with lyrical resonance, pirouettes, fulcrum points, and vitality. The two equally virtuosic parts - requiring highly characterized dynamics and articulations, as well as fast fingering changes - sparkle forth for 8 minutes, unfolding fourteen continuously developing phrases, each lasting between 15 and 50 seconds. The music is organic and concerned with transformations and connections at every level. Poetically speaking, this composition has a kind of fractal quality to it - each part has a similar flair, twirl, whirl, pivot, and character as the whole. There are seven additional alternative instrumentation versions for Bebop Riddle V which can be purchased separately.

The music of composer and pianist Nicolas Worms (born in 1993 in Paris) is a space where contradictory times and places converge. He develops the concept of 'music-fiction', as in the series FLOT, released by Alpha Classics in 2024. This new album arose from the "simple yet dizzying need to summon the unknown within me. What can I draw from my heritage and my keyboards?' says Worms. With four of them - the grand piano, the CP-70 electric piano, the Prophet-V analogue synthesiser and the modular system - he embarks on a grand investigation and uses his instruments as 'pieces of evidence'. L'Enquete comprises four parts and a coda. Some pieces are written in the style of a toccata or a nocturne. Others are improvised, more melodic, and others still more abstract as in any investigation, it is a matter of changing perspective, retracing one's steps, and allowing oneself to be surprised.

Violinist Noe Inui presents a recording of the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin that is as personal as it is profound. Shaped by early inspiration, great role models, and a decades-long process of artistic maturation, this recording masterfully combines historically informed performance practice with modern interpretation. With emotional depth and technical brilliance, Inui opens up new perspectives on one of the most significant works in music history. This recording is more than just a milestone for every violinist - it is an invitation to all music lovers to rediscover Bach's timeless masterpieces.

Bebop Riddle V is by turns sprightly, spry, energetic, and spirited. In this work, Thomas crafted animated, travelling, flexible, versatile, changing, fluid, and buoyant sonic adventures, a bit like two hummingbirds darting around a field of wildflowers. Iridescent, bold, and scintillating, the carefully sculpted and fashioned musical materials of Bebop Riddle V are agile and vivacious, and their flexibility allows pathways to braid harmonic, rhythmic, and contrapuntal elements that are constantly transformed - variously whimsical, jazzy and bebop-like, layered, and reverberating, with lyrical resonance, pirouettes, fulcrum points, and vitality. The two equally virtuosic parts - requiring highly characterized dynamics and articulations, as well as fast fingering changes - sparkle forth for 8 minutes, unfolding fourteen continuously developing phrases, each lasting between 15 and 50 seconds. The music is organic and concerned with transformations and connections at every level. Poetically speaking, this composition has a kind of fractal quality to it - each part has a similar flair, twirl, whirl, pivot, and character as the whole. There are seven additional alternative instrumentation versions for Bebop Riddle V which can be purchased separately.

A city as a soundscape: On their new GENUIN album, violinist Eva Wetzel and pianist Antonio Di Dedda invite listeners to embark on a musical journey of discovery through Hamburg. Spanning composers from Johannes Brahms to Sofia Gubaidulina and Alfred Schnittke, the program blends the familiar with the rarely heard, revealing a multifaceted panorama of Hamburg's musical life from the 19th century to the present day. Guided by a keen sense of connection and context, they craft a musical city tour whose colorful and nuanced interpretation brings the many facets of this rich musical landscape into vivid relief.

Herve Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel are paying tribute to Michel-Richard de Lalande, who died 300 years ago: 'Louis XIV's master of music, renowned for his sacred music and numerous divertissements, was also a remarkable composer of symphonies,' says Herve Niquet. Niquet imagines 'a rehearsal at Lalande's home as he prepared his latest compositions for the King's supper. And Massialot, his cook and maître d'hôtel, not only brought him food and drink, but also read him numerous letters and newspapers delivered by mail coach." In addition to the suites and caprices, we therefore hear a "delightful" letter from the Princess Palatine, wife of Monsieur, the King's brother, and a drinking song from 1683, entitled Pourquoi boirions-nous de l'eau? This colourful album confirms that in aristocratic France of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, "the most exquisite refinement coexisted quite unashamedly with the most unabashed vulgarity" (Francoise Rubellin).

In Motion explores the many ways music captures movement - through rhythm, dance, the passing of time, and the ever-changing colors of sound. Saxophonist Andreas Mader joins an exceptional ensemble of friends under the direction of Pit Brosius in a vibrant program that reimagines masterpieces by Ibert, Villa-Lobos, Ravel, de Falla, Caroline Shaw and Dubois. New arrangements place the saxophone at the heart of an intimate chamber ensemble, revealing fresh perspectives on familiar works while celebrating the instrument's remarkable expressive range. Inspired by the idea that 'time, like the tide, it's motion keeps,' the album unfolds as a journey of energy, elegance and constant transformation.  Recorded in the outstanding acoustic of Trifolion Echternach in Luxembourg and captured in high-definition sound by Bert van der Wolf-Oude Avenhuis of Northstar Recording, In Motion combines artistic imagination with exceptional sonic clarity. The result is an album that invites listeners into an immersive musical landscape where classical tradition, rhythmic vitality and contemporary creativity come together in performances of warmth, virtuosity and irresistible momentum.

Handel's Baroque opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto unfolds here as a high-stakes drama of power, passion and survival. Dmitri Tcherniakov's powerful production strips the story to it's psychological core, placing political rivalry and a fiery love story within the claustrophobic setting of an underground bunker. Christophe Dumaux delivers a compelling Cesare, while Olga Kulchynska shines as a 'lyrical' Cleopatra in her Salzburg debut. With a superb supporting cast, above all Lucile Richardot as Cornelia 'with her smouldering mezzo' (BR Klassik) and Federico Fiorio as Sesto, Emmanuelle Haim conducts Le Concert d'Astree from the harpsichord, shaping 'a perfect whole' (Kurier) of musical brilliance and electrifying theatre.

At a time in which even highly regarded English musicians went hungry because their employers withheld their salaries, John Hingeston was fortunate. The pastor's son from York caught people's attention as a youth with his organ playing and soon was in the service in the Earl of Cumberland. He was sent to London to receive further education and became a loyal servant. When Oliver Cromwell came to power, he made him his master of music. After the restoration of the monarchy, he played viol and was the keeper of wind instruments at the court. The young Henry Purcell was his apprentice and successor. He was a staunch advocate for his less privileged colleagues, enjoyed a distinguished reputation as a teacher, and left behind a considerable body of melodious chamber music for string instruments (and organ). Some of these features highly original instrumentation, reflecting half a century of British musical history - a 'missing link' comes to light between Orlando Gibbons on the one hand, and John Blow and Henry Purcell on the other.

This unprecedented recording - released precisely in the year of the celebrations commemorating one of the most significant figures in human history - explores the musical output of Padre Giambattista Martini dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. A Franciscan friar and ecclesiastical musician, as well as a learned teacher and tireless researcher, Martini composed a Mass (incomplete) and various motets in honour of the Saint. From these, the Ensemble San Pietro - directed by Marcello Rossi and Giacomo Contro - has reconstructed a complete "Franciscan" Mass. The essay accompanying the CD also features a curious analogy between the composer and his saintly dedicatee, supported by a careful analysis of historical documents.

On Mozart Horn Concertos, Ben Goldscheider joins the Munchener Kammerorchester in performances of all four concertos by Mozart, combining clarity, energy, and a strong sense of musical direction. Written for Mozart's friend, the horn player Joseph Leutgeb, these works remain central to the horn repertoire, balancing virtuosity, lyricism, with a uniquely conversational relationship between soloist and orchestra. For Goldscheider, these concertos have been a constant presence throughout his musical development, accompanying him from his early years as a horn player to major international solo appearances. This long familiarity informs an interpretation shaped by both experience and curiosity. Presented in reverse order, from the Fourth Concerto to the First, the album offers a fresh perspective on their overall arc. Ben Goldscheider makes his PENTATONE debut with this release, while the Munchener Kammerorchester appeared on the acclaimed recording of Four Seasons with Arabella Steinbacher in 2020.