Peter Friis Johansson is one of Sweden's most brilliant pianists right now. He has not least won recognition for his cycles of Franz Schubert's complete piano sonatas for more than a decade. Now that he has finally started recording them under the title 'Beyond Schubert' it is with an unusual approach. Not only does he perform from original manuscripts, and even completes unfinished sonatas - he also combines some of the sonatas with high quality works by Swedish composers that somehow are connected to Schubert's. On this first volume, the charming A Major Sonata, Op. 3, by Sweden's grand old lady, Elfrida Andree (1841-1929), is placed next to Schubert's equally charming sonata in the same key (D 664). This album starts, however, with Schubert's big A Minor Sonata (D 845). 'Beyond Schubert' is both a series of recordings and an artistic research project, centered around Franz Schubert and his piano sonatas. As a body of work, the recordings aim to portray Schubert in new and sometimes experimental ways. The word 'Beyond' is therefore central to the project and carries different meanings across it's various components. The research project primarily focuses on Schubert's piano sonata fragments, completing them using diverse methods and aesthetic approaches. Some of these completions will be released as recordings, while others will be available only as sheet music. An online tool will also be developed, allowing anyone to create their own completions of the unfinished sonata movements. The recordings will eventually encompass all of Schubert's finished and fragmentary piano sonatas. Some, as in this recording, will be juxtaposed with other works that have a clear connection to Schubert's music. In this sense, 'Beyond' refers to how Schubert has influenced other composers, and how his style resonates beyond his own compositions.

Leonardo Garcia Alarcon presents and contrasts two monumental works: a Messa Concertata by the choirmaster of the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna and the famous Dixit Dominus composed by George Frideric Handel in Rome in 1707. A fascinating comparison between a first recording of a forgotten masterpiece and a new interpretation of one of the most brilliant works by the young Handel, dazzled as he was by his discovery of the Italian Baroque.

The composer, violinist and conductor, Hugo Alfven (1872-1960), is a kind of national composer in Sweden. His tonal language is very much romantic nationalism and his period of glory ranges from the late 1890s until the mid-1920s. He was active in all imaginable genres, such as symphonic works, chamber music, choirs, solo instruments, and his many songs are still widely performed today. Several songs are available in different arrangements, partly for voice and piano, partly with orchestra in different settings. The great majority of the orchestral song versions presented on this album are first recordings, performed by a dream team of singers: Kerstin Avemo and Sabina Bisholt, sopranos; Tobias Westman, tenor; Karl-Magnus Fredriksson, baritone. The Goteborg Opera Orchestra is conducted by one of Sweden's foremost conductors, Patrik Ringborg.

Portraits of france and spain: piano music from impressionism and national romanticism to the avant-garde, 1880-1960

All the sacred spirit of the Romantic era is embodied in these pages: Gabriel Faure's Requiem offers itself without artifice, frank and generous. Begun in 1887 and carefully reworked over the years, the work unfolds with a spiritual fervour bathed in a halo of crystalline honesty, carried by a fluid choral writing. Victor Jacob conducts the Orchestre de l'Opera Royal in revealing the 1893 version, the first complete edition of this masterpiece. Selected works by Brahms, Schubert, Rossini, and Rheinberger bridge the divine and the secular, transforming this album into a journey steeped in depth and melancholy, where the purity of the score draws the listener's mind into unsuspected reveries.

At a time when castrati reigned on Europe's stages, a few composers dared to write for female voices. Vivaldi, Porpora, and Porta explored the subtleties of this repertoire to create some of the finest sacred music scores of their era. Marina Viotti revives this forgotten heritage, placing the power of her voice at the service of the rich and moving melodies gathered here. Accompanied by Andres Gabetta and the Orchestre de l'Opera Royal, between theatricality and sacredness, Marina Viotti accomplishes the feat of bringing back to life the golden age of 18th-century sacred music, while paying tribute to all the women who, through their art, embodied the soul of the masters.

This album features some of the most beloved works from the piano repertoire, all united by a common theme of distant reminiscences of lost happiness-either directly expressed in the titles of the pieces or subtly woven into the music, as in Schubert's Sonata in A Major, written just months before his death. It is both a tribute to Beethoven's style and a quintessential example of Schubert's unique blend of intimate emotions, expressed through lyrical motifs. While the virtuosic pianism is never absent, it takes a back seat to the emotional depth and expressiveness at the heart of the work. The cycles of Leos Janacek were composed during the darkest period of his life. His On an Overgrown Path memorializes his daughter, who tragically passed away, while In the Mists with it's transparent texture and innovative harmonies captures the internal void and confusion of the composer. Schumann's Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) evokes the perspective of an adult looking back with nostalgia, longing for the simplicity and innocence of childhood. The music, with it's straightforward and sometimes naive language, mirrors the idealized view of the past. Min Jung Lee, a versatile and sensitive artist, delivers a deeply evocative interpretation. In her delicate readings, she perfectly captures the essence of these compositions, painting a misty portrait of the personal experiences of the composers, transposed into musical form on the staff.

Dacw 'Nghariad (there is my love) is a beautful Welsh folk song that I discovered whilst working on a cantata for the Aldeburgh Festival based on the Welsh myth of Lyn y Fan Fach. The song is about longing; longing for something that is unreachable and distant, for the moment at least. � Gavin Higgins

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzynski's chamber music offers a strikingly forward-looking vision of the cello as a virtuoso instrument. Written for the leading musicians of nineteenth-century Warsaw, these works captivate with their lyrical richness and sweeping sense of drama. This album features the Nocturne, Op. 46, in it's world premiere recording. The performers bring effortless style to music that blends refined salon elegance with subtly woven folk influences-dumka and krakowiak-drawing listeners into a world of beauty, warmth, and spiritual calm.

Dacw 'Nghariad (there is my love) is a beautful Welsh folk song that I discovered whilst working on a cantata for the Aldeburgh Festival based on the Welsh myth of Lyn y Fan Fach. The song is about longing; longing for something that is unreachable and distant, for the moment at least. � Gavin Higgins

Whilst working on The Faerie Bride for the Aldeburgh Festival - a cantata based on the Welsh legend of Lyn y Fan Fach - I became fascinated by the rich and elusive world of Welsh folk music. Some of the tunes I discovered found their way into the cantata, but I inadvertently found myself arranging others for solo violin. Many welsh folk tunes and airs are very ancient, stretching back to the time of Henry V, whilst others are more recent, being written in the 17 and 1800's. But no matter when these melodies originated, most Welsh folk songs fall into three main categories: songs of love, songs of nature, and songs of battle. The songs in this arrangement explore a broad range of subjects including unrequited love, loss, friendship, infidelity, and even one about a cat who's lost it's fur! � Gavin Higgins

The album "Present Reflections" offers an anthology of Amy Beach's piano works, showcasing her remarkable compositional talent and stylistic range-from expressive virtuosity to deep interpretative intimacy. This distinctive quality is due not only to her extraordinary gift but also to several factors: the profound cultural shifts she experienced between the late 19th and early 20th centuries-bridging late Romanticism, the emergence of the avant-garde, and the advent of jazz-and her unmistakable emotional expressiveness. Despite the strict, self-imposed discipline of her compositional process (she was entirely self-taught), her style remains deeply personal and authentic in every work. Looking back in time, beginning with her later compositions, one can observe a radical evolution in her writing. These works are not only a significant contribution to American piano literature but also a testament to the transformation of an era-one that slips away from the present to become almost immediately part of the past. In this way, Present Reflections becomes a mirror of today's world, reflecting the epochal changes of which we are all a part. Mrs. Beach's incredible talent, which enabled her to emerge as one of the greatest composers of her time, tells the story of both women and men-transcending the limitations imposed by society and leaving behind a musical legacy that deserves not only rediscovery but celebration. Katia Spluga

In February 2001, Franz Bartolomey, principal cellist of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded Johannes Brahms' famous First Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 38 in E minor, and an early work, Richard Strauss' Sonata in F major, in the Grand Broadcasting Hall of the RadioKulturhaus. Twenty-five years later, two years after his father's death, his son, cellist Matthias Bartolomey, together with pianist Ariane Haering, now presents the album 'HOMMAGE' with the same programme, supplemented by an arrangement of Schubert's Moment Musical, Op. 3. For Matthias Bartolomey, his father's recording, and in particular his interpretation, marks an extremely formative period in his musical career. The sonatas by Brahms and Strauss were part of the soundscape of Matthias's childhood home from his earliest youth. Similar to Richard Strauss's 'Don Quixote', he knew every note, every phrasing, and every portamento of his father's playing by heart.

String Works As a teenager, I studied violin privately for about a year. Despite my best efforts, I never truly learned to play-couldn't even manage a simple melody. Yet the raw, untamed sounds of the violin-the fleeting, wild noises it could produce-captivated me. Even now, though I still can't play a tune, I remain enchanted by it's voice: the subtle, mournful cries and the bright, shimmering whispers. String instruments have long been my silent idols, their voices resonating with a deep, almost mystical beauty. Since I began composing, I've been drawn again and again to their warmth, vibrancy, and the intensity of their impassioned screams. Over the years, I've written many works for strings-each one an attempt to enter, and perhaps never fully master, their enigmatic world. String Works gathers pieces I've written for strings across the past decade. Creating them has been my joy, my privilege, and my constant fascination: an unfolding journey into a soundworld as elusive, strange, and beautiful as the strings themselves.

With works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Fritz Kreisler, the Amadeus Trio presents a multifaceted programme that combines Viennese chamber music tradition, lyrical depth and virtuoso esprit. Beethoven's famous 'Gassenhauer Trio' captivates with it's wit and elegance, Schubert's first piano trio with it's formal breadth and poetic expressiveness, while Fritz Kreisler's miniatures bring the unmistakable Viennese charm into the modern age with a wink. Founded in 2020, the Amadeus Trio brings together three internationally renowned soloists who share a passion for chamber music and intense dialogue with each other - and with the audience. The members of the trio have already performed with leading orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and have appeared in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall London, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Tonhalle Zurich, the Vienna Musikverein and the Konzerthaus. The Amadeus Trio performs internationally in Europe and Asia and received standing ovations at it's debut in the sold-out Vienna Konzerthaus. Today, the ensemble stands for lively, high-class chamber music that draws inspiration from tradition and brings it into the present with fresh energy and immediate expressiveness.

This project is the result of musical research carried out in various fields. It includes original works for harp and violin in a variety of compositional styles. The choice of different historical periods aims to focus on pieces that are rarely performed or, in the case of contemporary pieces, world premieres. The sonorities used, ranging from the 1800s to the present day, aim to highlight the technical, instrumental and musical potential of the Duo Vieuxtemps. The final objective of our work is to be able to take the listener on a musical journey, a sonic trip that offers a kaleidoscope of sensations, shapes and colours, with the intent of halting the perception of the passing of time and letting oneself be carried away by the sound.

Amid the pomp of the court, the ear of the young Louis XIV was awakened to the charms of the harpsichord. Surrounded by the most illustrious harpsichordists, he explored a world where music was still a treasure passed from hand to hand. While French harpsichord making flourished, Jacques Champion de Chambonnieres published the first printed scores in 1670. From unmeasured preludes, to poignant tombeaux imbued with subtle melancholy, to delicate arrangements of popular airs, the harpsichord of Louis XIV echoes an era of unprecedented musical richness. Brice Sailly's sublime interpretation highlights the splendour and diversity of this golden age of the French harpsichord.

Henry Purcell, also known as Orpheus Britannicus for his ability to enchant the public with his music, is the most celebrated English composer of the Baroque period. He was largely appreciated for his dramatic works, but he also wrote a significant number of instrumental compositions such as A Choice Collection of Lessons for The Harpsichord or Spinnet. The title of the collection indicates the intended instruments: "for the Harpsichord or Spinnet". At that time in England, spinnet was a widely used instrument. Due to it's modest size, it became a privileged instrument for the domestic learning, especially in wealthy families. This practice can be traced in multiple artistic representations, where the typical performer was typically young and female. Their composed appearance is very far from the flamboyant virtuosity or exuberance. The Lessons have the same courteous attitude, but they are rich in emotional nuances. Gentleness emerges through an elegant musical style that is never overly sentimental.. Music sometimes can be vigorous, but it's never bold. Two centuries passed before a new composer could rival Purcell's reputation: when Benjamin Britten chose some of Purcell's works and published them in a modern arrangement, he declared that he wanted to maintain that mix of clarity, brightness, tenderness and originality that shines through all his music.

Music lovers all over the world appreciate the unique sound of Viennese strings. However, there is another special sound - that of the Viennese oboe. Sebastian Breit, principal oboist of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, puts his instrument in the spotlight on an album released by Supreme Music. These are discoveries from the 'golden era' of the Viennese oboe. These rarities charmingly demonstrate why the Viennese oboe is 'different from the others'. All of the pieces were written specifically for the Viennese oboe at the time of their creation. They are compositions penned by Alexander Wunderer (1877-1955), himself an oboist with the Vienna Philharmonic, Hans Gal (1890-1987) and Karl Pilss (1902-1979). Listening to these pieces, interpreted with great dedication, one becomes aware of how significant the instrument has been in shaping the much-praised Viennese sound.

The album Intrecci New compositions and arrangements for Guitar, produced with the support of the MiC Ministry of Culture and SIAE as part of the 'Per Chi Crea' program, presents a singular listening itinerary that sees Giacomo Susani's two souls as an interpreter and composer dialogue in an original way. The program unfolds in four pairs of songs: four original compositions, accompanied by four repertoire arrangements created by Susani himself. "Mine was not an operation of transcription as faithful as possible to the originals - says Giacomo Susani - but I decided to move in an arrangement dimension functional to the narrative arc of the CD and therefore aimed at enhancing the intrinsically identifying qualities of the guitar." The first pair of songs that opens the album sees two works brought together and characterized by a fundamental contrapuntal architecture: a very short Fuga by G.F. Handel, taken from Voluntary X for organ, and the original piece Dialogo (homage to Lauro), born from a commission received by Pixaudio for an upcoming documentary on Antonio Lauro. With a change of interior landscape, we move on to Caprice 4 for solo violin by Pierre Rode, a composer and famous French violinist who lived between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, associated with the piece that gives the album it's title: Intrecci (homage to Paganini) by Susani, a work commissioned by the Paganini Guitar Festival 2024 and which pays homage to Paganini by developing a dialogue between the two gestural worlds, that of the violin and that of the guitar, both loved by the Genoese composer. The third pair of pieces leads into the more abstract dimension of melancholy and meditation, with the very famous June by P.I. Tchaikovsky for piano in the version for guitar created by Giacomo Susani and the original piece by Susani Gems dreaming which the author considers his most abstract work among those on the album. The listening ends with an arrangement of Moon River by Henry Mancini and an original piece in three movements inspired by three paintings by the British author Frederic Leighton. An album that develops in an eclectic meeting of sound worlds and artistic illuminations, where the classical repertoire is singularly intertwined with contemporary expression.