Daniel Seminara's Fantasticus is a musical journey through different eras, aesthetics and languages. From the improvisational inventions of the seventeenth century to the experiments of the late twentieth century, each selected piece reflects a common impulse: the desire to explore, to amaze, to go beyond the limits of tradition and to give voice, through the guitar and the lute, to music that is born each time as if it were the first. The repertoire spans from works by Kapsberger, Galilei and Piccinini over Sor and Poulenc to Petrassi and D'Angelo, always with the ideas of 'Stylus Phantasticus' in mind.

Daniel Muller-Schott ranks among the most distinguished cellists of our era, captivating audiences on the world's leading concert stages. In this remarkable recording, Daniel Muller-Schott blends masterful cello artistry with a deeply personal musical journey. Together with Irina Zahharenkova and Anderson Fiorelli, he brings works by Bach, Vivaldi, Geminiani and Boccherini to life - performed on the very harpsichord his mother played, whose sound has accompanied him since childhood. The sonatas unfold with a captivating mix of Baroque elegance, emotional warmth and technical brilliance. Each interpretation reflects intimacy, nostalgia and the timeless power of music. An album that resonates: authentic, poetic, and radiant with Baroque expressiveness.

In 1758 the London publisher John Walsh, sensing a marketing opportunity, issued a collection of harpsichord sonatas under the name of Johann Adolf Hasse. The volume includes genuine compositions by Hasse alongside some works that are in all likelihood not by him. Walsh's editorial decisions reveal a discerning musical judgment, and the pieces gathered in the collection are of consistently high quality. The present recording offers the complete set, performed on an original 1768 harpsichord by the Amsterdam builder Carl Fredrik Laescke.

Winner of the 2024 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition, the trio Ayres Extemporae make it's recording debut on Linn Records with a programme that explores various colours and textures made available by the group's unusual combination of violin, five-string cello and cello. Erbarme dich! Represents a spiritual journey from torment to redemption built around the instrumental transcriptions of arias and sonatas by J. S. Bach, interwoven with the expressive depth of works by Biber and Locke. It is a profound reflection on these universal themes, tracing the full spectrum of human emotion from anger, guilt or remorse to acceptance and, ultimately, peace. The aria from the cantata BWV 55 lends it's name to this programme: a plea for mercy of touching vulnerability, signalling the beginning of the journey towards absolution.

Ilona Timchenko's upcoming album Echoes of a Hidden Legacy is a deeply personal and artistically courageous tribute to the music of Albert Semyonovich Leman, a composer of profound humanism whose voice, shaped by brilliance and adversity, has remained largely unheard beyond Russia Bringing together two major piano cycles written for and dedicated to her (Verhaeren Suite and Schallwellen (Waves of Sound)) both presented here in world premiere recordings. Timchenko restores a living connection to her teacher's artistic vision. Having inherited Leman's final piano, the very instrument on which these works were composed, she creates a rare continuity of sound and spirit, bridging past and present in a performance that is at once intimate, poetic, and architecturally luminous. Inspired by the symbolist poetry of emile Verhaeren, the Verhaeren Suite transforms atmosphere into music of striking psychological depth, while Schallwellen explores resonance and vibration with a contemplative modernity grounded in expressive sincerity. The album is completed by Sofia Gubaidulina's powerful Chaconne, written during her studies with Leman, forming a symbolic arc from teacher to student, from legacy to continuation. In this carefully curated program, Timchenko does more than interpret: she listens, remembers, and reawakens. The result is not merely a recording, but an act of artistic restoration, a testament to resilience, mentorship, and the enduring force of sound itself. With her commanding presence and lifelong commitment to contemporary music, Ilona Timchenko invites us to rediscover a voice that speaks not as an echo of the past, but as a vibrant and necessary presence in today's musical landscape.

Domenico Scarlatti is one of the few composers from the age of Bach and Handel, whose year of birth he shared, to have enjoyed continuous fame and the presence of his keyboard music in the general repertoire since his lifetime. Though Scarlatti wrote over 500 sonatas for keyboard there is a wide variety in these works. Some are deeply serious others are light and almost humorous. Some sound like courtly dances others like street songs. This ability to cover a wide range of styles and moods is one of the hallmarks of Scarlatti's work. Asako Ogawa has chosen a varied and uplifting collection for this present album, presented in superb sound.

This is an album of what might best be described as nicely funky classical and tango music of the 20th Century, performed by chamber clarinet ensembles.

A student of Einar Englund and Einojuhani Rautavaara, Kjell Flem, born in Alesund in 1943, has long been considered an international insider tip of the contemporary Scandinavian music scene. His compositions are traditionally non-radical, atmospherically unconstructed, and creates an ambience deeply rooted in the natural landscape of his homeland. His oeuvre is not extensive; rather, he allows himself a long creative period because, in his own words, truly magical moments of inspiration are rare.

This first portrait album devoted to Annelies Van Parys reveals a distinctive voice in contemporary European music. Drawing on spectralism, she builds luminous orchestral textures that unite timbral exploration with clear musical architecture and strong dramaturgy. Conductor Marit Strindlund notes: "I find Van Parys to be one of the most interesting contemporary European composers... a uniquely individual artistic voice is always shining through her music."

Considered a lesser-known gem of the operatic repertoire, Smetana's Dve vdovy ('The Two Widows') is set in a Bohemian country estate in which the contrasting personalities of recently widowed cousins Karolina and Anezka are tested by the attentions of gentleman-farmer Ladislav. Smetana's expert theatrical craftsmanship seamlessly blends Czech dances and choruses with beautiful cavatina-like solos. With the humane warmth of it's chamber-like comedy and deftly transparent orchestration, Smetana created a style of conversational opera in The Two Widows that was much admired by Richard Strauss.

ELEMENTUAK marks the debut album of Expressio Duo, the Basque accordion partnership of Maria Zubimendi and Garazi Navas. Conceived as a journey across three centuries of music, the programme explores the art of transcription as a creative dialogue between past and present, revealing the extraordinary expressive range of the modern accordion. From the refined elegance of the French Baroque to the evocative sound world of early 20th-century Basque nationalism, ELEMENTUAK highlights the instrument's versatility in repertoire originally conceived for orchestra and keyboard. Works by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau unfold with clarity, colour and rhythmic vitality, while Jean-Fery Rebel's visionary Le Cahos from Les elemens acquires striking modern intensity through the duo's rich harmonic textures and dynamic control. The programme concludes with music rooted in Basque identity. Aita Donostia's Acuarelas Vascas evoke landscapes and traditional dances with impressionistic delicacy, and excerpts from Jesus Guridi's El Caserio and Amaya celebrate folkloric energy transformed into symphonic brilliance. Recorded at the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Granada, this release affirms Expressio Duo's artistic depth and positions the accordion as a powerful mediator between tradition and reinvention in today's classical landscape.

Under the title "Bach Organ Landscapes", a new complete recording of Bach's organ works will be released over the next few years. It is based on ten historical organ builders who were relevant to Johann Sebastian Bach. With no other instrument like the organ are space and sound so closely linked. The further we look back into the history of music, the more regional developments play a role. Traveling has been part of the world of organists from the very beginning.

Gramophone (UK):�A wonderful release that launches Berl Senofsky into the heady realms of collectable violin virtuosos.

This is the first album in the discography of the National Wind Orchestra in Lubin, an ensemble founded in 2019. It features works by composers regarded among the most important contemporary creators of music for wind orchestra. Among them are also authors who write music for film, television, and advertising, which is reflected in numerous illustrative motifs that stimulate the imagination. The compositions reveal the immense sonic and expressive potential of the symphonic wind orchestra, transporting listeners into a fantastical world inspired by colors, the seasons, underwater life, and the magical scenery of the mountains. The music is aesthetically rooted in the tradition of sweeping film suites, where powerful brass fanfares intertwine with subtle woodwind motifs, enriched by the sound of harp and percussion instruments. Joyful, lively themes in Hounds of Springs, the dramatic chase in Ride, and the gentle, carefree mood of Whispers from Beyond together form a colorful kaleidoscope of emotions and impressions. Under the baton of Sebastian Perlowski, the National Wind Orchestra in Lubin captivates with it's sound, energy, technical virtuosity, and an excellent sense of style at the intersection of classical and film music.

Il Bajazet was commissioned in 1735 to open Verona's carnival season. Vivaldi chose a libretto by Agostino Piovene drawn from the well-known story of the defeated Ottoman sultan, King Bajazet, captured by Tamerlane who duly falls in love with Bajazet's proud daughter, Asteria. Vivaldi was in his late maturity when he completed the opera, modifying his music to suit contemporary taste, and using the pasticcio form, incorporating some arias written by other, mostly Neapolitan, composers. Repurposing of this kind was wholly acceptable at the time and such works enjoyed great popularity. The conductor and Vivaldi specialist, Federico Maria Sardelli, has integrated lost arias, clarified the use of historically appropriate orchestration, and brought the opera to rich theatrical life.

This thoughtfully sequenced recording explores sacred music written in the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries. It includes a famous madrigal, a starting point for a mass setting by Philippe de Monte, positioned alongside well-crafted, but previously unrecorded music from the same period. They are complemented by striking contemporary pieces by female composers, including Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Cecilia McDowall, Melissa Dunphy, Rosa Elliott and Kerry Andrew.

The award-winning vibraphonist Pascal Schumacher and the internationally acclaimed pianist Danae Dorken present their new album 'Glass Two' - an impressive musical homage to one of the most influential composers of our time: Philip Glass. Their unusual instrumentation for piano and vibraphone creates an unrivaled sound world that brings Glass' minimalist worksto life in a new and refreshing way. At the heart of the album are original interpretations of Glass' compositions, complemented by Schumacher's own works. These pieces, inspired by personalities who influenced the American composer, such as the poet Allen Ginsberg or the sculptor Richard Serra, form a unique fusion of two musical worlds. This fusion creates a profound and multifaceted, yet reduced and clear atmosphere. Pascal Schumacher and Danae Dorken impressively demonstrate that less is sometimes more: Their artfully crafted arrangements are characterised by a fascinating transparency that captures the essence of minimalist music. The result is a captivating listening experience that allows the colors and textures of Glass' works to shine in a new light and interact harmoniously with Schumacher's own compositions. The album will be released on the Neue Meister label on CD and vinyl on 8 November 2024 and is an indispensable discovery for all lovers of modern classical music. Immerse yourself in the soundscapes of 'Glass Two' and experience a musical journey that inspires both in it's reduction and diversity

Francesco Palmieri has gathered in this album pieces that are special to him, with which he has sustained an intimate, lasting relationship - one might even say, of friendship. This is testified also by his fruitful collaboration with some of the composers presented here. The collection's title, Sans dire, taken from one of the works, evokes the familiarity that sometimes arises between friends; or, at times, between a performer and, through their instrument, a piece of music. As the composer himself notes: "Sans dire is a confidential, wordless conversation between intertwined souls, taking place around the body of the guitar - the instrument that, more than any other, reminds me of the tone of friendship and of those intimate connections that render words effective even when only hinted at." The program presents works for guitar or e-guitar, in some cases with added electronics. Composers include Luciano Berio (the famous Sequenzia), Salvatore Sciarrino, Marco Momi, Fausto Romitelli, and Pierluigi Billone. A fascinating journey through a sometimes hallucinating soundscape of unheard-of colours, timbres, and soundscapes. Francesco Palmieri (b. 1996) is a Berlin-based classical and electric guitarist whose work intertwines with contemporary music. He has performed at major festivals and concert halls, including Festival d'Automne, ManiFeste, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Ruhrtriennale, Wittener Tage f�r Neue Kammermusik, Darmst�dter Ferienkurse, Staatsoper Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Bregenzer Festspiele, ZeitR�ume Basel, Musikfestival Bern, Festival di Nuova Consonanza, and Milano Musica.

Jack Brymer's work is well represented on record as an outstanding orchestral player and concerto soloist. He also made appearances directing The London Wind Soloists on the Decca label in the 1960s, notably in the five LP set of Mozart Complete Wind Music (1963). But of his recital work with piano there is very little apart from a Discourses LP release, and the Nimbus album recorded in October 1973 and released in 1979. This recital contained two cornerstones of Brymer's repertoire, one or both of them invariably included in virtually every concert he gave, Weber's 'Grand Duo Concertant' and Brahms' F minor Sonata. The LP remained in the catalogue until Nimbus closed it's LP manufacturing in the early 1980s. The present issue is the first reissue in any format. The session notes show an entirely trouble-free couple of days. They include ideas for further projects, listing music by Schubert, Brahms, Poulenc and Hindemith, but no return visits occurred at this time.

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.