The multicultural melting pot of Malta is home to the Malta International Music Festival, a major cultural event hosted annually by this Mediterranean island nation. One of the Festival’s most memorable concerts- the one recorded here- took place in 2017: a Trio Gala program for which the well-known Khachaturian Trio as well as five other brilliant musicians- formed into trios (and one duo)- performed a dazzling array of varied and highly appealing music. The program includes both well-known and novel music by Maltese composers Joseph Vella and Alexey Shore; also Uzbekistan native Ilya Dimov. Highlights include a brilliant rendition of Khachaturian’s world-famous Sabre ance in a version for piano trio, the sublime Andante from Arno Babadjanian’s Piano Trio, and a breathtaking performance of the much-loved Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia for violin and cello. In addition to the Khachaturian Trio, the distinguished performers include a number of well-known artists, predominatnly from Armenia and Russia.

A force to be reckoned with (The New York Times), violinist Miclen Laipang makes his solo recording debut on Delos with a very personal recital. Featuring music that has accompanied him over time, "Deep River" traces a path through styles and places that have been meaningful throughout his life. Like a flowing river, this program moves from it's source through different landscapes, crosses borders, and opens onto new encounters as it continues forward. It mirrors a life shaped by movement between countries, cultures, and musical worlds. Works such as Deep River and Nobody knows de trouble I've seen bring echoes of home, representing Miclen's childhood and the United States, while Widmung, Liebesleid and Der Rosenkavalier Waltzes are associated with his time in Germany and Austria, and Ravel's Violin Sonata No. 2 with his current home in France. Partnered by pianist Nigel Yandell, Miclen performs on the Antonio Stradivari "Charles Castleman, ex-Marquis de Champeaux," generously loaned by the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.

“Elegance and poetry... silvery tone, beautifully controlled… phrases flowing and immaculate.” (Okinawa News) Italian virtuoso flutist Raffaele Trevisani continues to exemplify such praise in this, his ninth Delos recording. His graceful elegance and interpretive warmth are evident in this all-Mozart program containing some of his loveliest music despite his rather low regard for the flute. A rare bonus is the faithful transcription for flute of the masterly Quartet for Oboe, K370. Mr. Trevisani’s three collaborators are members of the renowned Suk Chamber Orchestra.

The Spiritual Revival Choir of Moscow was created in 1992, at the end of the Soviet era, a time when religious freedom was once again permitted in Russia. The choir's repertoire includes music of the renaissance, baroque, classical and romantic periods, as well as music by contemporary composers such as Alfred Schnittke. 'Serene Ecstasy' features the choir in sacred music by Russian composers from the 19th and 20th centuries.
The choir opens the program with "The Russian Soil," a hymn dedicated to Russian saints that is memorable for its rhythmic drive and exalted tone. Two sacred pieces by Tchaikovsky are marked by drama and, in "Eucharist" from the 'Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom,' a sense of joy. The group's lush tonal quality is ideal in Ippolitov-Ivanov's pacific "Praise the Lord, O My Soul."
This recording consistently impresses with its excellent singing and fascinating repertoire; surely it's an ideal recording for all lovers of sacred music.

Anton Rubinstein’s Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 95, emerged in 1874 – ending a dry spell of roughly 20 years since his previous efforts in the genre. It came at a time when the future of the purely instrumental symphony was in doubt, reflecting the notion of Wagner and his disciples that Beethoven had exhausted the possibilities of symphonic development – and that the day of “synthetic” art (the “Gesamtkunstwerk”), with its blend of symphonic, vocal and theatrical elements, had arrived. Rubinstein did not agree, and composed his fourth symphony in an apparent effort to prove that Beethoven’s methods were still valid. This marks Delos’ second re-release of Russian Disk’s acclaimed series of Rubinstein’s orchestral music, as performed with authentic idiomatic flair by Igor Golovchin and his Russian State Symphony Orchestra.