German Gents is a phenomenon among vocal ensembles, the four singers perfectly translate all styles and genres - and already reach their fans with a following of over 500k on their social media?. Their album will contain a mix of traditional German and international Christmas songs, complemented by timeless classics in A-cappella style. The masterful performance of festive melodies reflects both the serene contemplation and the joyful spirit of the season. The recording is produced in perfect audio quality with a festive sound?.

Que sais-je? is a one-hour composition that explores the life and philosophy of composer Amos Elkana's father, Yehuda Elkana, through music, archival recordings, and visual media. Performed by the Meitar Ensemble, the piece integrates live instrumental performance with multichannel audio and video projections, surrounding the audience with a tapestry of sound and memory.

Catrin Finch releases Notes to Self, her first solo album in a decade, featuring personal tracks dedicated to her 13-year-old self. Accompanied by letters, the album reflects on her 40-year career, exploring vulnerability, transformation, and life under public scrutiny. As a gay woman, cancer survivor, and mother, Finch channels her struggles and triumphs into music, marking a bold, introspective evolution in her artistry.

This 3-CD collection presents the collaboration between Kurt Masur and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in three of their unique Beethoven performances from the 1980s. The centrepiece is the recording of the Ninth Symphony, made on the occasion of the opening concert of the new Gewandhaus in Leipzig on 8 October 1981. It is largely thanks to the efforts of Kurt Masur, conductor of the orchestra from 1970 onwards, that a new, 'third' Gewandhaus was built on Augustusplatz in the city centre after the Second World War. The opening concert of the new Gewandhaus on 8 October 1981 therefore marked the beginning of a new era for the orchestra under it's then principal conductor. The CD collection also includes recordings of the MASS IN D MAJOR, OP. 123 'MISSA SOLEMNIS' and the CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA IN D MAJOR, OP. 61.

Ken Ueno's creative approach to composition shares an affinity with the percussion world; there is an underlying spirit of exprimentation, problem solving, and deconstruction as a path to innovation that guides them. This clear eyed perspective on the materials of sound and their possibilities makes percussion music an ideal forum to hear Ueno's work. The works on this recording share an interest in microtonality. Transformation of noise timbres into pitched material, and an investigation of instrumental possibilities.

The reconstruction of the compositional chronology of Georg Friedrich Handel's repertoire for flute is extremely complex. There are various reasons for this, stemming from two essential factors: on the one hand, the typical tendency for much of Handel's music to transmigrate from one instrument to another and the consequent impossibility, at times, of determining precisely which version of a particular piece is the original; on the other hand, the proliferation, at a time when no copyright regulations existed, of diverse printed editions. Many of these, unauthorised, generated different versions, errors or misinterpretations, which were possibly also passed on over time. For this CD recording, which features a substantial part of the complete corpus of the sonatas for recorder and transverse flute, we compared the two earliest printed versions containing sonatas for solo instrument by Handel. Both were published by the London publisher Walsh, although for a long time the first of the two editions was attributed to the Amsterdam publisher Roger, but then, thanks to the studies of Terence Best and David Lasocki, it turned out to be a 'pirate' publication by the same publisher Walsh (who probably had not yet obtained Handel's permission to publish).

The Goldmund Quartet, one of Germany's leading young string ensembles, is preparing a very special CD: String quartet versions of traditional Oktoberfest music?. Well-known polkas, marches and waltzes will be heard in a new guise. You can look forward to a musical homage to the Bavarian joie de vivre, in which the quartet captures the flair of the Munich Oktoberfest in fine string sounds.

Ensemble Dal Niente's newest release, portrait RE / Flux / Pacific Time, chronicles their immersive collaborations with composers, featuring three works by George Lewis, Carola Bauckholt, and Igor Santos that represent the culmination of long-standing working relationships with the critically acclaimed Chicago-based ensemble.

This is the new recording we have been waiting for. Three years after Brahms (ALPHA792), the Belcea Quartet returns in a new formation: Suyeon Kang, their new second violin, joined the quartet in 2023. Today the Belcea Quartet presents a new recording of the Debussy Quartet - which they had previously recorded on their very first album 25 years ago - and two quartets by Karol Szymanowski, a composer they are particularly fond of and who possesses a unique and immediately identifiable musical language. The first quartet was composed in 1917 but the Russian Revolution intervened; it's premiere finally took place in 1924. Szymanowski - then a world-renowned composer and a leading figure in the reconstruction of musical life in the young Polish Republic - wrote his second quartet ten years after the first in 1927; it was premiered in Warsaw two years later.

This album presents sounds from Japan with piano and marimba and invites to a musical journey full of nostalgia and cultural depths. It reveals the beautry of traditional Japanese melodies in a modern, emotional guise with virtouso interpretations by Benyamin Nuss and Fumito Nunoya.

Violist Jonathan Bagg unearths three overlooked gems of the mid-20th century chamber repertoire by Marion Bauer, Ulysees Kay, and Margaret Bonds. Joined by pianists Emely Phelps and Mimi Solomon, Bagg sheds light on well deserving repertoire by three composers whose contributions to the larger musical field went far beyond their fine music.

Reentko Dirks is known for his genre-blending style, incorporating flamenco, jazz, and non-European influences, particularly from Arabian music. He has worked with artists and groups like Cirque du Soleil, Yo-Yo Ma, and Ksenija Sidorova, and has performed at iconic venues such as Carnegie Hall. In 2025, Dirks will release an Album featuring tracks dedicated to his late father, offering a reflective and emotional musical tribute. Dirks is part of the European Guitar Quartet and the ensemble Masaa, which won the German Jazz Prize in 2021.

This album celebrates a warm and close musical relationship between composer, conductor, and orchestra - and the extraordinary impact the Covid pandemic had on British cultural life. Sir Mark and the Hall� commissioned and premiered the works on this album between 2020 and 2025, with Huw Watkins writing with the specific sound of the Hall� in mind. Symphony No. 2 and Fanfare for the Hall� were born of the pandemic. The symphony was composed during Covid lockdown, and Watkins said this influenced the work's character, with a determination that it should end positively. This is uplifting music, crafted in a symphonic tradition whilst offering a fresh voice and skilful use of instrumental writing. The performance was awarded the South Bank Sky Arts Classical Music Award for 2022. The Fanfare for the Hall� was commissioned by the Hall� to celebrate the return of the orchestra to the concert platform following the first Covid lockdown. Scored for 11 brass instruments, the work moves from a tentative beginning to a confident and defiant conclusion - arguably reflecting much of the national mood during the pandemic. Following almost a quarter of a century as Music Director of the Hall�, Sir Mark premiered Watkins' Concerto for Orchestra in his first concert as Conductor Emeritus. The piece particularly reflects the qualities of the orchestra and it's musicians, and their longstanding relationship with Sir Mark. The work exudes positivity, with rhythmic deftness and highly effective orchestral colourations, displaying the musical strengths of all sections of the orchestra, in writing that is beguiling and joyous.

Bridging Tradition and Innovation: This album redefines lute music by blending the instrument's rich historical sound with electronic textures. A Fusion of Acoustic and Electronic: Bergmuller merges the lute's intricate, classical tones with subtle electronic layers?. For both contemporary and classical music audiences.

This release captures the January 2025 concert from Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. Rapturously received by the capacity audience and acclaimed by the critics, the Halle's performance of this monumental work marks a significant milestone in Kahchun Wong's tenure as Principal Conductor. Thought of as being the composer's most ambitious search for the meaning of life, the Second Symphony is conceived and delivered on an epic scale, featuring soloists, choir and an enlarged orchestra. The music offers a directness of expression which transports the listener through a series of climaxes and reflections, culminating in a Last Judgement in which the composer said, 'an overwhelming love illuminates our being'. The release is accompanied by a personal introduction from Kahchun Wong, reflecting on what the music of Mahler means to him, and a programme note by Mahler expert, composer David Matthews.

Composer Michael Hersch adapts the tragedy of Medea from Ovid's�Metamorphoses�in his new opera for soprano Sarah Maria Sun, the vocal ensemble Schola Heidelberg, and Ensemble Musikfabrik. With librettist Stephanie Fleischmann. Hersch's setting underscores the profound psychological trauma at the heart of the tale with a characteristically powerful, bracing score.

Flutist and composer Wilfrido Terrazas presents Trilog�a del Dolor (Trilogy of Pain), a collection of works blending music and poetry to explore the complexities of the human experience of pain. Going beyond common idealizations, the trilogy seeks to spark conversations and challenge taboos around pain, featuring poignant texts by Mexican authors Nuria Manzur-Wirth, Ricardo C�zares, Tania Favela, M�nica Morales Rocha, Nadia Mondrag�n, and the composer, in conversation with the unique visual imagination of artist Esther G�mez Rubio. The album features the vocal artistry of soprano Mariana Flores Bucio and tenor Miguel Zazueta, and the fiery talents of clarinetist Madison Greenstone, cellist Roc�o S�nchez, percussionist Camilo Zamudio, and Terrazas on flutes and narration.

Mendelssohn's music contains a fascinating duality: deeply rooted in German Romanticism, inspired by Bach and Beethoven, but at the same time shaped by his Jewish origins and the tension between these two worlds. This complexity unfolds in a special way at Christmas time in particular - as a bridge between traditions, cultures and spiritual experiences. An album that combines the festive warmth and spiritual depth of the Christmas season with the radiant music of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. A unique musical language - full of light, inwardness and festive joy

This is the second album of the Saint-Saens series, with young talents?. All recordings were made with the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, conducted by Howard Griffiths. The repertoire inludes: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in G minor op. 22, Morceau de Concert in F minor op. 94, Romance in F major op. 36, Romance in E major op. 67 and Suite for Violoncello and Orchestra op. 16b?

Bologna, Italy based American composer and pianist David Salvage releases�Dreams of Love and Travel,�works he composed for solo piano that engage with journeys physical, literary, and symbolic. A seven movement suite inspired by Marcel Proust's�In Search of Lost Time�occupies a central role in the collection, representing the large structural gesture on the album as it is surrounded by shorter character pieces.