The fourth and final volume in Gilbert Rowland's acclaimed Froberger series completes the landmark recording project on specialist early music label Athene. This double album is the latest instalment of Rowland's authoritative traversal of the complete Harpsichord Suites by Johann Jakob Froberger - a composer of profound influence whose innovations shaped the very form of the Baroque suite later adopted by Bach and Handel. Praised for it's "glorious sound" and "energy and a good forward drive", the series has garnered widespread critical recognition. Recorded in the sympathetic acoustic of Holy Trinity Church, Weston, in October 2024, the album reunites Rowland with engineer John Taylor, whose audiophile-standard production has underpinned the previous volumes. Rowland's playing combines historical insight with expressive vitality, delivering performances marked by "impeccable clarity, flawless articulation, and period-perfect embellishments". His interpretations illuminate the elegance and inventiveness of Froberger's writing, making this collection an essential reference for enthusiasts and scholars of early keyboard music. This release is a vital addition for fans of Froberger, Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, and historically informed performances, offering both continuity for collectors and a compelling entry point into one of the Baroque's most fascinating keyboard oeuvres.

It took a move from his native Seville to Paris for Joaquin Turina (1882-1949) to discover an authentically Spanish voice for himself, principally encouraged there by his countryman Isaac Albeniz. The Piano Trio in F now numbers among the first works of Turina's maturity, though it was lost for many years and only rediscovered in 1999. The distance of over two decades between this early work and Turina's first numbered Trio is mirrored in stark terms by the contrast in idioms. An essentially outgoing, Romantic temperament has been refined by the passing of time and life into a more angular melodic style, supported by more chromatic and allusive harmony - no less 'Spanish' in it's way, perhaps even more so. This is the piece that for many years was Turina's best-known chamber piece, beyond the Danzas fantasticas which delighted many listeners to Alicia de Larrocha and (in their orchestrated form) Ernest Ansermet. Now the First Piano Trio may be appreciated in a broader context of Turina's writing for a notoriously challenging genre, and we hear how in each work the three instruments gain a greater degree of independence. From 1933, the Trio No.2 continues this process of refinement and distillation, notwithstanding the Brahmsian hemiolas which destabilise it's opening theme. Turina's masterpiece in the piano-trio genre is probably Circulo, a concise three-movement essay which he composed on the eve of the First World War. It charts the passing of a single day, from the slow stirrings of dawn to a dance in the middle of an Andalucian day through to the gradual falling of dusk, which begins in wild exuberance and ends in peace under a starry sky. The Orphelion Ensemble was founded in Vienna by the Spanish violinist Deborah Gonsalves Deborah Gonsalves and the Austro-German cellist Berthold Hamburger. For this new recording of Turina's trios, they are joined by the Spanish pianist An Eva Browning Artist-in-residence Associate Professor of piano at Texas Tech University, Daniel del Pino. Based in Spain, Orphelion gives concerts across the world with a flexible line-up of artists in order to pursue an artistically ambitious programme which sees them work with leading visual artists, writers and actors. - Joaquin Turina was born in Sevilla, Spain, where he received his first music lessons. Later he went to Madrid and subsequently settled in Paris, where he took composition lessons from Vincent d'Indy at his Schola Cantorum de Paris, while studying the piano with Moritz Moszkowski. Inevitably he came into contact with Debussy and Ravel, and his early compositions were clearly influenced by the Impressionists. However he returned to his native Spain and developed his own style in which the rich folklore, folk music and atmosphere of Spain is predominant. Together with Albeniz, Granados and de Falla he established the Spanish Nationalist School. - This new recording presents Turina's complete works for piano trio, clearly showing the development of his compositional style. It is music of great imagination, colouring and instrumental brilliance, in which the sounds and perfumes of Spain are nearly palpable. - Excellent performances by the Orphelion Ensemble, consisting of Daniel del Pino (piano), Deborah Gonsalves (violin) and Berthold Hamburger (cello).

Celebrated British pianist Martin Jones recorded the complete piano music of Jean Roger-Ducasse in 2015 (NI5927, 3 CDs). Along with Ravel, Roger-Ducasse joined the composition class of Gabriel Faur�. In 1902 he won the second Grand Prix de Rome, with Ravel gaining fourth prize. His style is not impressionist but descends from Chopin and more closely aligns with Faur�.

Reginald Smith Brindle pursued a distinguished academic career with numerous scholarly publications, but as a composer it was the impact of Italy and his studies with Pizzetti and Dallapiccola that coloured much of his music. Works such as Vita Senese ('Siena Life') and the Sonatina Fiorentina express the cultural and architectural magnificence of these great Italian cities. The later guitar sonatas expand into ever deeper emotions and moods as Smith Brindle explores the entire range of the guitar to stunning effect.

Recorded March 5-7 2025 at Krematoriet, Stockholm Sweden by Adam Forkelid Mixing & editing by Adam Forkelid Mastering by Klaus Scheuermann/4ohm music Cover & artwork by Jonas Holmberg Photos by Fredrik Gille 2024/2025 Produced by Svante S�derqvist & Adam Forkelid Co-produced by Calle Rasmusson & Tuulikki Bartosik

Mixing iconic choral works with music by some of today's most exciting composers, this varied programme is centred around themes of rest. Joel Thompson's virtuosic new work is a particular highlight: written in 15 parts, A Prayer for Deliverance perfectly showcases Tenebrae's core values of passion and precision. The second half features Herbert Howells' Requiem - surely one of the most moving works in the English choral repertoire. Associated with the untimely death of Howells' young son Michael, the work remained unknown until it was finally published just three years before Howells' own death in 1983.

ANTON BRUCKNER (1824-1896) - Symphony No. 7 in E major Arrangement for ensemble by Hanns Eisler, Erwin Stein and Karl Rankl During the coronavirus pandemic, when large symphonic performances were almost impossible due to contact restrictions and social distancing rules, the ensemble wanted to enable people to experience the depth and spirituality of Bruckner's music despite the social distancing and isolation restrictions. While there are normally around 80 musicians on stage when Bruckner's 7th Symphony is performed, the Stuttgart-based Ensemble Balance performs the work with just 11 instrumentalists, the result being that this condensed chamber music remains a unique experience, even without the pandemic! And this is because it is precisely in this concentrated, emotionally condensed form that Bruckner's compositional artistry becomes seductively clear and audible! The in-depth exploration into his work during the rehearsals for this recording in August 2020 had the effect of welding the ensemble together in both an artistic and a personal way, and this intimate connection between each and every musician, combined with the spirit of Bruckner's composition, can be clearly felt and heard in this performance by Ensemble Balance.

Reginald Smith Brindle served with the Royal Engineers in Africa and Italy during the Second World War, and later returned to Italy in 1949 to further his compositional studies with Pizzetti and Dallapiccola. The influence of Italian landscapes and culture can be found in many of Smith Brindle's works, including an extended combination of nostalgia and melancholy in November Memories dedicated to the poet Margherita Guidacci, and an evocation of the spirit of Gesualdo in The Prince of Venosa. The sheer variety of his guitar music is further represented in the expressive Preludes and Fantasias, the technical demands of the �le-de-France Variations, and the pedagogical but intriguingly atonal Ten Simple Preludes.

Of Paganini's fifteen quartets with guitar only six were published during his lifetime. They represent his finest body of chamber compositions as can be heard in the three quartets for violin, viola, guitar and cello, Op. 4. Of them, No. 3 in A major is a masterpiece, with French-styled inspiration, rich lyricism and piquant invention, while the virtuosic, almost concerto-like No. 8 in A major embodies his quatuor brillant writing, with it's Rossinian resonances. No. 12 in A minor is the most 'symphonic' of the three, containing formal originality, one of the most moving of Paganini's slow movements, and his most serious-minded finale.

Mozart Piano Concertos, Vol. 3. The concept behind our present undertaking, the Mozart Piano Concertos CD trilogy, is to present a range of concertos from Mozart's various compositional and performing periods, styles, techniques and instrumentations. Our endeavour is also linked with an encore-like single work on each CD, namely a Rondo. The additional connecting link between these six piano concertos is the Cadenzas & Lead-ins which Lazic�has composed himself. Here he was inspired by the common practice of the composer's day.

Erik Palmberg - Trumpet Joona Toivanen - Piano Martin Sundstr�m - Bass Paul Svanberg - Drums & Percussion

One of the most sought-after young chamber ensembles of it's type, Trio Gaspard is praised for it's unique and fresh approach to the score, one recent recording prompting The Times to conclude: "Kaleidoscopic textures and sprightly wit, wonderfully conveyed by Trio Gaspard... delightful listening." It was founded in 2010, it's members hailing from Germany, Greece, and the UK. They studied at the European Chamber Music Academy in Vienna. Haydn's music has been of central importance to their programming over the past fifteen years, and it is rare for them to perform a concert without one of his works. Trio Gaspard writes: "Over this series of recordings, we present Haydn's rich output for piano trio neither chronologically nor in the groups in which the works were first published. Instead, just like the preceding discs, Volume 5 is conceived as a programme of contrasting trios that can be heard in a single sitting. We also continue the series of contemporary works which we have commissioned to accompany our Haydn project and are delighted to present the world premi�re recording of Helena Winkelman's Threesome in a High-den."

As a boy, Francesco Cavalli was a member of San Marco Basilica's Chapel, then directed by Claudio Monteverdi, from whom he probably received tuition. In time Cavalli's fame as an operatic composer spread across Europe and he succeeded Monteverdi in San Marco to reach the apex of success in Venice. He also wrote sacred music, published in two great printed collections. The first collection, published in 1656, contains his Missa a 8 voci Concertata, an imposing and magnificent work of exceptional complexity for eight soloists, two four-voiced choirs and many instrumentalists. In this recording it is performed in the context of an All Saints' Day liturgy by Ensemble Locatelli, directed by Cavalli scholar, Bruno Gini.

Hailed by the magazine BBC Music for it's 'generous and warm-hearted, utterly beguiling playing', the GRAMMY�-nominated Neave Trio has emerged as one of the finest young ensembles of it's generation. For this, their eighth album, they have once again selected a programme of works by female composers. Written in 1846, the Piano Trio of Clara Schumann was considered a great success by her friends and supporters (notably by Brahms) but her lack of self-confidence clouded her own view of the piece. Intellectually curious and a voracious reader from an early age, Dora Pejacevic was largely self-taught as a composer. She composed her first piano trio (in D major) in 1905 (when she was twenty) and the second followed in 1910, by which time Pejacevic's musical language had already evolved into it's distinctive late-romantic style. Chaminade's Piano Trio No. 2 in A minor was published 1887, with a dedication to the great French cellist Jules Delsart. The successful premiere had been given at the Salle �rard on 4 February 1886. Chaminade went on to play the A minor Trio regularly during the 1890s, to substantial critical acclaim.

Diversions is delighted to present the January 2026 release of Bach Lute Suites for Alto Guitar, from the Finnish guitarist Vesa Lassila. Even today, it's unclear whether Bach's Lute Suites were written for a lute-harpsichord, or even a harp. While the works have been recorded many times on the modern guitar, in Water Through Ice, guitarist Vesa Lassila presents his own arrangements for the the alto guitar. Lassila states, "With a little imagination, one can easily view the alto guitar as the modern instrument version of the baroque alto lute." The alto guitar on the recording features an instrument created by Finnish luthier Keijo Krelin in 2009, and provides a rich and powerful bass register alongside a light descant and clear voice, bridging the gap between modern sounds and historic authenticity. Water through Ice also includes arrangements for alto guitar of two Suites Bach originally composed for solo violin, but which were later transcribed or arranged by him for lute-harpsichord. "As a musician, the possibilities of the alto guitar opened a wider range of bass lines, meaning that unlike when performing Bach on the modern guitar," says Lassila, "one doesn't have to reduce the rich voice in the lower register but can instead employ the full two octaves as were written for the lute. The shorter scale of the fretboard allows for more open solutions in the fingerings and articulations in order to better bring out Bach's glorious counterpoint." These beautiful, intricate and technically demanding works continue to inspire musicians today because of their exceptional quality. Lassila traces Bach's well-planned musical narrations throughout the Suites to bring forth a poetic, musical journey, that "moves as water runs through ice, with musical diversions adding to the harmonious journey." Vesa Lassila is a Finnish guitarist who grew up in the city of Ylivieska. He began to play guitar at the age of twelve and little later began to take lessons with Jorma Styng. Lassila studied classical guitar in Helsinki and Oulu Conservatory with guidance from Timo Korhonen, Ismo Eskelinen and Ilkka Virta, also with Jan Olof Ericsson in Pite� Music Hogskola in Sweden. He has taken part in masterclasses held by Oscar Ghiglia, Jukka Savijoki and Roberto Aussel. Lassila works as a guitar professor at the Institute of Music in Ylivieska, in northern Finland.

Wilhelm Furtwangler was born in Schoneberg (now a district of Berlin) in 1886, but spent most of his childhood in Munich, where his father, an archaeologist, taught at the university. He received a musical education from an early age, and soon became obsessed with the works of Beethoven - a lifelong fascination. Furtwangler considered himself to be a composer, and learned to conduct principally to be able to promote his own works. Everyone else saw him as an incredibly talented conductor, but as a composer? - not so much. It is, however, his own individual approach that underscores his entire career - his reputation as a conductor was built on the re-interpretation of each score he conducted, a principle far removed from the then more usual rigid adherence to performance tradition. His whole career was built on his belief in the sanctity of the German artistic tradition - not only of music but of literature and philosophy. Furtwangler rose to the most important conductorships available, replacing Richard Strauss at the Staatskapelle Berlin in 1920, and then, following the sudden death of Arthur Nikisch, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. Through the 1930s and '40s, his career was defined by his opposition to Nazism, and the determination of the regime to use his international reputation as propaganda to promote their cause. The best known of his three symphonies, the second was composed in 1945 - 46 whilst he was self-exiled in Switzerland.

Bach's Cello Suites are his only works for solo cello but are central to the repertoire and remain unequalled in their expressive musical depth. Dor Gidon Amran, the virtuoso mandolinist who has recorded his own unique arrangement of Paganini's 24 Caprices on Dynamic (CDS8038), has now arranged Cello Suites Nos. 1-3 for the mandocello. This is a baritone instrument of the mandolin family, but much larger than a mandolin, whose strings are tuned exactly like those of the cello. Being played with a plectrum, the mandocello belongs to a very different sound world to the cello, offering a unique perspective on these great works.

This new recording from the Diversions label presents a focused showcase of the vocal music of Chicago-based composer Doug Lofstrom. Featuring baritone Ryan de Ryke, soprano Kim Jones, tenor Ryan Townsend Strand, pianist Daniel Schlosberg, and a fantastic session chamber orchestra, the album includes the world premiere recordings of three song cycles-Three Sandburg Songs, All Must End, and Myths and Accidents-as well as the first recorded excerpts from Lofstrom's opera Two Soldiers. The collaboration began in 2014 when Lofstrom met de Ryke and Schlosberg during a guest lecture. Their artistic rapport led to these deeply expressive song cycles, culminating in the revival of Two Soldiers-originally premiered in 1990 and reimagined in 2020 during the COVID pandemic with updated vocal and orchestral scoring. The opera, a sweeping tale of destiny and survival set in WWII, follows two soldiers-one Russian, one German-through a world in upheaval. Doug Lofstrom has been a creative force in American music since the 1970s. A former composer-in-residence for the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra and musical director of Free Street Theater, his works span symphonic, jazz, theater, and dance genres. He has written for the St. Louis, Atlanta, and Oregon Symphonies, Pittsburgh Ballet, and more. Vocal music has increasingly taken center stage in his work, often written for ensembles he helped form or inspire. Ryan de Ryke, praised for his versatility and rich musicality, has appeared at Aldeburgh, Aix-en-Provence, and Edinburgh festivals, with acclaimed roles in oratorio, opera, and art song. He's an alumnus of prestigious institutions including the Peabody Conservatory and Royal Academy of Music. Daniel Schlosberg, GRAMMY�-nominated pianist and composer, is a prominent voice in both classical and contemporary music. Known for championing new music and art song, he's collaborated with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and led acclaimed projects across the U.S. and Europe. His release 40@40 with soprano Laura Strickling reached #1 on the Billboard classical chart. This compelling release is a bold presentation of new American vocal music, captured by some of today's most insightful interpreters.

Sara Ald�n Sara Ald�n vocal, Daniel Andersson Runevad bass, August Bj�rn piano

Claudio Santoro's late works are marked by great concision and considerable emotional density. The music on this album was written in the last months of his life. The Viola Concerto and the Concerto for Chamber Orchestra juxtapose restless energy and expansive - if at times desolate - lyricism. The powerful Symphony No. 13 shows Santoro's mastery of orchestration and form at it's peak, and the compact Symphony No. 14 was to be the last in a cycle widely acclaimed as the most significant of it's kind ever composed in Brazil.