Jos� Antonio Bottiroli's prot�g� and greatest champion, Fabio Banegas, presents this fourth volume of his mentor's complete piano works. In this wide-ranging collection we hear works with orchestra and with chamber ensemble, as well as pieces for piano solo and duo. Symphonic Impressions for piano and orchestra offers lyricism and virtuosity, while the remainder of the programme focuses on Bottiroli's contrapuntal mastery, the creative refashioning and expansion of earlier works, and his use of Argentine folk dances such as the chamam�. Together they present musical mementos of his own life experience.

The oratorios of Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) are seminal works in the early history of a genre that combines sacred narrative, theatrical expression, and musical virtuosity to create a new, dramatic form. Of the mostly Old Testament stories to which Carissimi's oratorios refer, the vivid tale of Jonah stands out. During his divine mission at sea, the biblical hero is caught in a storm and swallowed by a whale. Carissimi shapes this material into a fast-paced plot with emotionally powerful solo recitatives, interspersed with a complex array of choral passages-including a striking double chorus depicting the storm. Who better to interpret Carissimi's expressive music than Giovanni Antonini, one of the foremost conductors on the period-instrument scene? The performance also features the historically informed performance ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, with instrumentation specially adapted to the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the unique tonal qualities of the oratorio. It's artistic director Giovanni Antonini has worked with the Bavarian Radio Chorus for many years, with critically acclaimed concerts featuring works ranging from the early Baroque period to the First Viennese School-and he also finds the perfect sound for Carissimi's music. With choral music by Claudio Monteverdi and Orlando di Lasso, this album also traces the development of dramatic vocal music in the transition from the late Renaissance motet to the more emotionally expressive interpretations of the early Baroque period. The famous Lamento d'Arianna is the only surviving piece from the lost opera Ariadne by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), who reworked this lament into an equally expressive madrigal in 1610. Excerpts from the two legendary and mysterious cycles Prophetiae Sibyllarum and Lagrime di San Pietro by the Wittelsbach court composer Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) conclude the album, allowing us to experience masterpieces of the motet style, to which the Bavarian Radio Chorus regularly devotes itself in historically informed performances. With it's powerful double-choir storm scene, the oratorio Jonah is a highlight of high Baroque choral music. Carissimi's oratorios are key milestones in the development of the genre. Featuring the renowned early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, led by Giovanni Antonini, with whom the BR Chorus has already performed programmes to high acclaim, this release also includes the madrigal version of the legendary Lamento d'Arianna by Claudio Monteverdi, the master of early Baroque opera. Also including excerpts from two important cycles of works by the Munich Renaissance master composer Orlando di Lasso, this dynamic live recording captures performances in Munich's Prinzregententheater.

Since the creation of their ensemble La Nereide in 2019, the three sopranos Camille Allerat, Julie Roset and Ana Vieira Leite have wanted to tell stories about women, women who are courageous, vulnerable, passionate, powerful, secretive - and sometimes all of these at once. Le Coeur et la Raison imagines the fate of a young noblewoman sent to the Demoiselles de Saint-Cyr, where she received a meticulous education, particularly in music; she took part in services and sang works by it's organist Louis-Nicolas Clerambault (1676-1749) - including his magnificent Miserere - and by Jean-Francois Lalouette (1651-1728), a pupil of Lully. When she returned to her family, however, she sang the melodies of fashionable court airs, which she then shared with her fellow students at Saint-Cyr, to the great disapproval of the religious authorities. She and her colleagues then rewrote the song texts transforming the declarations of love into statements of faith. Today, these three friends and artists present an emotionally charged programme, accompanied by a first-rate instrumental trio.

New York-based early music ensemble Concordian Dawn presents Veni Redemptor Gentium, a joyful and introspective musical celebration of the Christmas season centred around songs spanning the thirteenth through the fifteenth centuries. The album includes beautiful and rarely heard repertoire from the medieval holidays alongside seasonal and traditional jewels, plus two world-premiere recordings of works by Australian-born composer David Yardley, whose music has been described as “transcendent medieval-inspired music for modern times.” The resplendent sound world of Veni Redemptor Gentium offers moments of peace, reflection, and enjoyment throughout the holiday season and beyond.

Joachim Raff was a largely self-taught composer whose style stands somewhere between the German traditionalism of Schumann and the newer school of Wagner. Raff composed seven Suites for Piano, a form he preferred to the sonata, and this provided him with greater freedom as a composer, resulting in his most substantial contribution to the piano literature. This is reflected in the Mendelssohn-like lyricism of the First Suite; contrasts between Baroque and Romantic styles in the Third Suite, a piece admired by Liszt; and more nationalist inclinations in the memorably melodic Fifth Suite.

On it's new CD from BR-KLASSIK, the Bavarian Radio Chorus, directed by Howard Arman, presents Christmas music from Italy. With his Lauda per la nativita del Signore, Ottorino Respighi modernised the medieval nativity play of the same name by the religious lyricist Jacopone da Todi. He had already explored art forms of the past in adaptations of early music, re-creations and free works based on Gregorian chants. In this piece, he assigned the medieval verses to three soloists - the angel, the Virgin Mary, and the shepherd - as well as a chamber choir. Accompanied by selected woodwind instruments reminiscent of the music of Italian shepherds, and by four-handed piano and triangle, the miracle of Christmas is brought to life in a simple yet impressive way. Francesco Paolo Frontini is remembered less for his compositions than for his many collections of Sicilian folk songs. From his Canti religiosi del popolo siciliano (Religious Songs of the Sicilian People, published in 1938), a collection of 22 songs for voice and piano underlaid with Sicilian dialect verses and their Italian translations, Howard Arman selected eight songs and arranged them for choir and instruments. Like Frontini, who already included regional variants from Catania, Palermo, and other parts of the Mediterranean island, Arman also arranged different regional versions of two songs. The melody of the Italian Marian carol O sanctissima, which is one of the most popular Christmas carols in the German-speaking countries with it's opening verse O du frohliche, could possibly also have originated from Sicily. The arrangement is once again by Howard Arman.

Composer-pianist Bruce Wolosoff describes the essence of his new album, Blue Mantra, as an engagement in multiple dialogues - between music and visual art, between the blues and chamber music, and between various moments in his creative life. The title track was inspired by a painting of the same name by his artist-wife Margaret Garrett. Similarly, Matisse Fantasies arose from seeing a charcoal drawing by the celebrated French impressionist. Blues for the New Millennium, commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution to commemorate the turn of the century, expresses a "before" and "after", and marked a turning point in Bruce's compositional style as he embraced a more directly lyrical, melodic compositional voice. All three works are scored for clarinet, piano and varied strings, and revel in bluesy lyricism alongside Bruce's formidable pianism and the virtuosity of his collaborators: clarinettist Narek Arutyunian, violinists Deborah Buck and Michelle Ross, and cellist Clarice Jensen.

Veronique Gens' talent as a storyteller needs no introduction; she is an eminent ambassador for French melodie and tragedie lyrique around the world. "Make us laugh! "says this sparkling programme, devised in collaboration with the Palazzetto Bru Zane. 'Les Divas d'Offenbach' presents all the facets of the prolific Jacques Offenbach - operetta, opera-bouffe, fairy tales and opera-comique - his famous arias from La Belle Hel�ne, La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein and La Perichole, as well as previously unreleased works recorded here for the first time. There are sections from major works that were not included in the final version as well as rarities from incidental music such as Valeria, Le Roman comique, Genevi�ve de Brabant and La Boulang�re a des ecus, a work that is practically never performed today but which enjoyed great success in the 19th century. Gens' long-time collaborator Herve Niquet conducts the Choeur et Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire with style and passion.

Viennese composer, conductor, and pianist Wilhelm Grosz was a musician of remarkable versatility and wide-ranging influences. He attracted critical praise as a composer from an early age with the technically formidable Symphonic Variations on an Original Theme, acclaimed as "a dramatic tone painting expanding to symphonic grandeur - on only one instrument." The Kleine Sonate is marked by great depth and clarity of expression, while the waltz transcriptions tapped into a craze for Johann Strauss II in 1930s London. The highly original Three Pieces was rediscovered just before this recording was made.

On February 1, 2025, Ivan Repusic, chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, directed Boris Papandopulo's 1942 Croatian Mass for soloists and a cappella choir in Munich's Prinzregententheater with the Bavarian Radio Chorus. BR-KLASSIK is now presenting this outstanding interpretation of the impressive sacred composition on CD as a live recording. The Croatian composer and conductor Boris Papandopulo (1906-1991) worked as a choirmaster, conductor and opera director in Split, Rijeka, Zagreb and Sarajevo. He created more than 400 compositions, spanning almost every genre. Although of Greek origin, Papandopulo was deeply rooted in the Croatian musical tradition, and his broad stylistic spectrum extended to neo-classicism, jazz, pop and folk music. His works combine elements of Croatian folk music with twelve-tone music and demand a high level of virtuosity. Papandopulo completed his training in Zagreb and at the New Conservatory in Vienna, spending the majority of his life in Croatia. The Croatian Mass is a sacred work in the spirit and style of centuries-old Croatian vocal music as well as being a practical choral composition. It is composed without orchestral or organ accompaniment, as Croatian choral music is almost exclusively sung a cappella. Papandopulo composed the mass for the First Croatian Choral Society Kolo, which he directed from 1928 to 1934 and again from 1938 to 1946. He completed his Croatian Mass in 1938, and it premiered in Zagreb on April 1, 1942, performed by the Croatian Choral Society Kolo under the composer's direction. Although the Croatian translation of the Roman Catholic liturgy gives the work a certain national flavour, the piece is primarily influenced by the tradition of old Dalmatian church hymns. Composed in a polyphonic style, it's syllabic and diatonic text settings are generally characteristic of Croatian vocal music.

The ferment of the Enlightenment, the early signs of the Revolution and the intellectual debate on colonialism fuel this French odyssey. During the Age of Exploration, France experienced an unprecedented cultural fervor. Trade routes and distant cultures enriched it's identity. Exotic sounds and rhythms shaped both noble salons and concert halls. In this quest for new sonorities, by the mid-18th century, the cello finally gained prominence in France, replacing the viola da gamba, which had dominated European music for centuries. The emphasis on deep sonorities is the culmination of this recording, featuring compositions by Louis-Francois-Joseph Patouart and Martin Bertin. The latter's story is particularly significant, embodying the spirit of �the recording: he founded the French cello school, despite having started �his career with the viola da gamba

A refined Lieder recital focused on the fascinating figure of Alma Mahler. All main composers of Vienna at the outset of the 20th century are represented. An unprecedented flourishing of musical and artistic talents concentrated at that time in the Austro-Hungarian empire capital. Third recording on Challenge Classics by raising star baritone Raoul Steffani. Previous releases: CC 72865 with Magdalena Kozena. Classica (FR): Raoul Steffani demonstrates a style and a diction always impeccable. He vocally masters all these lieder which often seek the top of the register and bring a lot of colors. CC 72785, American Record Guide (USA): This is an exceptionally fine debut recording for an already well-developed singer.

Armande de Polignac was one of an unprecedented number of female composers emerging at the beginning of the 20th century. With training from the likes of Gabriel Faur� and Vincent d'Indy, she was able to devote her life to music at the highest level of professionality. From the introspective early Pr�ludes via the luxuriant, Russian-infused �chapp�es to the remarkable sonic realism of Cloches, these recordings reveal Armande de Polignac as one of the greatest French female composers of her time.

Award-winning Polish composer, Pawel Lukaszewski, is one of today's most distinctive creators of contemporary sacred music. The Nocturnes for piano, based on some of his own sacred pieces, are inspired by the cosmos, with each nocturne named after a newly discovered bright star in constellations including Vela, Scorpius and the Southern Cross. Lukaszewski takes the listener on a journey through the beauty of the night sky with these intimate and atmospheric sound paintings.

This album presents three large and undoubtedly genuine compositions. In addition, it presents some of Bach's doubtful and spurious works, which were already attributed to him in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. By using an original organ (Mueller, 1734, in the Waalse Kerk, Amsterdam) and a performance asesthetic based on historically informed choices of registration, touch, articulation and ornamentation - all magical details of Bach's music shine through.

Play, Music! Songs from Shakespeare's Plays

Known primarily as a prolific opera composer, Gaetano Donizetti also wrote nearly 300 songs, which were destined for intimate gatherings of friends, professionals and wealthy amateurs. Though Donizetti was seemingly blase about his songs, they contain much of interest. Their melodic beauty and structural surety are invariably captivating, whether in ballades or canzonettas, theatrical ariettas, or poignant love laments. Setting poets from Pietro Metastasio to his contemporaries allowed Donizetti full rein to explore a wide variety of subject matter with wit, sentiment, long vocal lines, and quasi-orchestral piano accompaniment. A digital-only single of Lamento per la morte di V. Bellini is also available to stream and download (9.70399).

The Suite for Two Oboes and Two English Horns (2017), consists of four movements that take their titles from the Christian liturgy. Each movement is an abstract representation of the overall spirit and emotion of each of these prayers. The movements consist of what I find to be four of the most poignant as well as contrasting of the prayers: the Kyrie, the Dies Irae, the Lacrimosa, and ending with the Gloria. Having played the oboe and English horn throughout my formative musical years through to my completion of university, I have an inherent love for these instruments and writing for them. Oboists lack a large selection of serious repertoire for choirs of their instruments and my hope is that this piece will help fill some of that need in additional to encouraging others to write for this fascinating timbral combination. The Symphony for Flute Choir (2017) is a larger scale work for standard flute choir consisting of four movements. In composing this piece, my goal was to give the flute choir a serious piece of music with the emotional breadth that comes in writing a piece of a symphonic scale. As with most of my music, there is no programme or narrative to this piece. Rather, the movements revolve around often angular ideas, many mixed asymmetric metres, and contrasts between slow, sometimes emotionally ambivalent sections and more driving and jagged movements of ever-increasing amounts of tension.

Joseph Swensen conducts Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with an inner fire that grips all those who have attended one of his concerts; for him it is Beethoven's ultimate achievement, a celebration of humanity -not the romantic hero, but the truly ordinary individual, musically represented by the chorus. Beethoven begins his epic symphony in the darkness of primordial chaos. The first and second movements are visions of the universe before humanity. The third movement is a celestial dream. The beginning of the finale is our awakening. Beethoven wanted Ode to Joy to be a melody that all can sing. This chorus, a realisation in sound of the ideals of the 18th-century Enlightenment, is neither transcendent, divine, perfect nor impeccable. It is humanity singing of it's joy!

Dvorak stated elsewhere that he had always remained a simple Bohemian folk musician at heart. Born in 1841, the son of a butcher, he grew up in the countryside. He always heard Bohemian folk tunes, probably even in his mother's womb. Folk music was clearly part of Dvorak's DNA, and a Slavic folklore tone permeates the two works on this CD. 0028948677955 CAVM4867795.2 45383021 .00 17.99 .19 CAVI-MUSIC COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/31/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/27/4445227-3422550.jpg 4 1 N BALLESTRA,JEAN-LUC CARRARA: VOCI DA HEBRON Cristian Carrara is one of the most original Italian composers of his generation. The opera Voci da Hebron ('Voices from Hebron') is set during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Carrara's expressive depiction of this scenario is one in which fear, anger and incomprehension sit side-by-side with the need for communication, at a time when dialogue is difficult and peace is, at times, a mirage. This land that is home to grief and misunderstanding is also a place in which love can survive and ultimately flourish. 730099060370 NXS8660603.2 45383519 .00 19.99 .21 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/10/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/00/4445400-3422659.jpg 11 1 N TETZLAFF,CHRISTIAN ELGAR & ADES: VN CONS Star-violinist Christian Tetzlaff, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor John Storgards present in this album two major British violin concertos written between a century, in 1910 and 2005. Elgar's passionate violin concerto, completed in 1910, is a classical-romantic violin concerto in three movements. This huge and highly emotional work was in the wake of modernism neglected for several decades before entering into standard concerto repertoire. Here Christian Tetzlaff follows the model of the early recordings of Elgar's concerto with substantially quicker tempos compared to most modern recordings, and having a great influence on the impact of the piece. Ades' violin concerto 'Concentric Paths', is already a modern classic and no doubt one of the most important concertos written during this century. With it's very demanding violin part the work has all the elements of a true concerto, allowing the soloist to sing with his instrument. The beauty of this music lies that everything is written so clearly. 761195148020 OND1480.2 45383533 .00 18.99 .27 ONDINE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/03/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/45/4445745-3422683.jpg 85 1 N LEE,WARREN GOUNOD: PNO WORKS During his time in Italy and later in Leipzig, Charles Gounod was drawn by the balance of sonic beauty and proportion to be found in the music of Palestrina and J.S. Bach. He developed an innate desire for simple directness as can be heard in the excerpt from the Messe solennelle de Sainte Cecile and the Meditation sur le premier Prelude de J.S. Bach, now better known as Ave Maria. Gounod's talents for melody and mood painting are demonstrated in his Romances sans paroles, while his sense of wit can be heard in the famous Marche fune'bre d'une marionnette. 747313453474 NXS8574534.2 45383472 .00 19.99 .16 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/10/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/77/4446477-3422665.jpg 10 1 N BRIGGS,SARAH SMALL TREASURES In her first solo recording for AVIE in 2019, Sarah Beth Briggs' performances of music by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms were described as 81 minutes of pianistic Heaven" by International Piano Magazine. In her latest offering, Small Treasures, Sarah returns to two of those composers' greatest sets of miniatures: Schumann's piano cycle Waldszenen and Brahms's 4 Klavierstu�cke, Op.119, his final statement for solo piano. Alongside these, Sarah sets Schumann's much loved Arabeske from earlier in his composing career and the delightfully fleeting Impromptu by his wife Clara, together with her 4 Pie'ces fugitives, much lauded in her lifetime. The remaining 'Treasures' transport the listener to 20th-century France, comparing works by two members of Paris's composing circle 'Les Six' - Francis Poulenc's evocative 3 Novelettes (written across a 30-year time span) and Germaine Tailleferre's Sicilienne. As an encore, Sarah - a former International Mozart Competition winner - ends with a tiny gem by Wolfgang Amadeus: his 1789 Kleine Gigue in G in which light-hearted playfulness mingles with forward-looking chromaticism, miraculously seeming to find common ground with all of the works from the subsequent two centuries included on Small Treasures.