Vice Versa was created out of the need of Belgian pianist Bram de Looze's (LABtrio, Joey Baron, Thomas Morgan, Hank Roberts) to collaborate with artists who he feels are natural extensions to his sound. He quickly found kindred spirits in New York master drummer Eric McPherson (Jackie McLean, Andrew Hill, Pharoah Sanders, Fred Hersch) and Berlin bassist Felix Henkelhausen (Jim Black, Nate Wooley, Lotte Anker), two compositional masterminds with a boundless sense of rhythmic inventiveness. The versatile and exploratory trio sets the bar for expressive interpretation and inventive creativity high. They traverse different approaches in which musical rules change without losing momentum. This leads to an interesting musical synthesis where the spirit of traditional jazz language emerges during intuitive musical excursions within free improvisation and contemporary music. Their debut album 'Vice Versa' came out in 2023 on Dox Records to great acclaim. In January of 2025, while Bram de Looze was the Artist in Residence at Brussels Jazz Festival in Flagey, they recorded their second album live on stage, witnessed by a sold out Studio 1. This album will be released by Challenge Records (NL) in February of 2026.

The Cappella musicale di Santa Maria in Campitelli, conducted by Maestro Vincenzo Di Betta, who has already been responsible for significant recording revivals such as Orazio Benevoli's "Missa in angustia pestilenti�" (TC600201), Bonaventura Rubino's "Messa de' Morti" (TC601803), and Francesco Giovannini's "Messa � Quattro" (TC700703), is now engaged in this new and notably interesting musical production. This rediscovery focuses on two sacred oratorios from the seventeenth century by two authors active in the Neapolitan orbit: Francesco Nicol� de Rossi, a priest of Apulian origin, and Cristoforo Caresana, of Venetian origin and formerly the organist of St. Mark's Basilica. The two works - performed with the ensemble's customary expertise - are interspersed with an instrumental battle piece by Andrea Falconieri, composed in the spirit of that Baroque theatricality which is the main ingredient of these works and of the sacred musical masterpieces of the seventeenth century.

Women were not always allowed to compose - often due to restrictions imposed by their families or for social reasons. Ursula Erhart-Schwertmann, cello, and Elisabeth Aigner-Monarth, piano, illustrate on this album by the title "lost & found" the compositional activity of women in that era, in which composing for women was increasingly recognized. Their lists of works contain mainly short chamber music pieces, less often large-scale orchestral works. This selection of works also takes this into account and offers a compilation of character pieces from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Female composers from France, Great Britain, Denmark and north-eastern Europe like Mel Bonis, Amy Beach, Ethel Barns, Hilda Sehested or Marie Clemence de Grandval, among others, are given a voice and document the musical range of this genre.

Chamber music by the Graun brothers in various ensembles for woodwind and strings. A highly varied album that provides a good insight into the sophisticated entertainment music of the High Baroque period.

Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, composed over an extended period and in collaboration with it's dedicatee Ferdinand David, was an instant success at it's premiere. The concerto's glorious melodic invention and innovative character have made it one of the most beloved works in the classical canon. Dramatic in mood and troubled in it's history, Robert Schumann's Violin Concerto is regarded by soloist Albrecht Menzel as revealing the composer's inner world, from the deepest anguish to the heights of exhilaration.

Rome 1839, Palazzo Poli: one of Liszt's Roman concerts has gained significance in the history of music. A prominent audience of high ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries listened to Liszt's performances. Strangely enough, it was at this concert that Liszt took the risk of introducing a new type of program, as he decided for the first time to dispense with the participation of other artists and to conduct the evening entirely on his own. This was the first "solo piano recital" or, as Liszt jokingly put it: "The first of my boring musical monologues, which I now want to give everywhere in future. Le Concert c'est moi!" This album by Kateryna Titova presents live recordings as well as recordings made as part of an eponymous exhibition at the museum at Liszt's birthplace Raiding, featuring, among others, the so-called Dante Sonata, Liebestraume Nos. 2 & 3, two Paganini etudes as well as the first Mephisto Waltz.

Modern guitar music, played by one of the best German guitarists with a particular preference for music of the 20th and 21st centuries

GingerBlackGinger, the daring and authentic project centered around Belgian double bass player Yannick Peeters, has entered a new chapter. They are now joined by American avant-garde alto saxophonist Tim Berne. Their new album, titled Smalltalk Code, will be released in February 2026 by Challenge Records (NL). "Tim is a hero of mine, a great example when it comes to music composition. I didn't even dare ask him to join at first. This project is going to be unique; I don't know of many bands with two alto saxophones. I'm excited to see the dynamic form between Tim and Frans Van Isacker. Tim has such a strong personality, he has a great impact on our sound. The fact that Tim and Tom Rainey have played together before means there was an element of trust there from the beginning." - Yannick Peeters GingerBlackGinger is made up of Yannick Peeters (BE) on double bass (Jakob Bro, Frank Vagan�e, Chris Joris, Mark Feldman, Jim Black, Joshua Redman, Hank Roberts); Frederik Leroux (BE) on guitar (Flat Earth Society, Ruben Machtelinckx, Joachim Badenhorst, Lander Gyselinck, Steven Delannoye); Frans Van Isacker (BE) on saxophone and clarinet (Tom Malmendier, Quentin Stokart, Ottla, Chantal Acda & The Atlantic Drifters); Tom Rainey (US) on drums (Fred Hersch, Ingrid Laubrock, Mary Halvorson, Mark Helias, Joey Baron, Jim Black); and now Tim Berne (US) on saxophone (Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Hank Roberts, John Zorn, Marc Ducret, Michael Formanek, Craig Taborn). These are personalities with a vision: creative, stubborn people who won't settle for mediocrity; restless spirits who keep looking for new sounds, contexts, and like-minded people, and are therefore the ideal partners in crime for Peeters. In January 2024, the band released their debut album GingerBlackGinger. This album combines elaborate soundscapes, brief bursts of energy, and mesmerizing grooves. In May of 2025, Yannick Peeters was given carte blanche by Bozar. She took the opportunity to invite her personal musical hero Tim Berne to join the band for the recording of a new album and a live show. The result of this journey into new musical adventures is the album Smalltalk Code, to be released in February 2026 by Challenge Records (NL).

Mozart: Wind Serenade, KV. 361 "Gran Partita"

In volume 19 of James D. Hicks' Nordic Journey series, Dr. Hicks has commissioned and premieres a new (2024), 50-plus-minute, 24-movement collection of contemporary miniatures for pipe organ, penned by the rising composer Fredrik Sixten, entitled A Nordic Organ Book. Performed upon the historic 1871 �kerman organ of the Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden.

Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) was, during his lifetime, just as renowned and beloved as his contemporary Johann Sebastian Bach. However, unlike the "Bach Revival" that began in 1829, Graupner's rediscovery only started in the early 20th century. To this day, a significant portion of his over 2,000 works remains unpublished. Pandolfis Consort, founded by violist Elzbieta Sajka-Bachler and performing on period instruments, presents three of Christoph Graupner's more than 1,400 church cantatas, featuring Austrian soprano Lisa Rombach. The texts are based on the works of Georg Christian Lehms (1684-1717), and the mood of these cantatas-titled "Angst und Jammer" ("Fear and Misery"), "Furcht und Zagen" ("Dread and Trembling"), and "Verleih, dass ich aus Herzensgrund" ("Grant That I May from the Depths of My Heart")-inspires this album's title: "Lamentare". As interludes, two of Graupner's instrumental chamber works are featured: excerpts from "Entrata per la musica di tavola" in G minor (GWV 468) and the Sonata in G minor (GWV 724).

Composing is a fundamental need for me and a way to express myself. Composing is part of my life and opens up unimagined spaces for me in the creative process. My goal is to make these accessible and understandable to an audience. It is important to me to only write what can be heard. Therefore, I am not interested in abstract and (overly) complicated structures, but rather in organic processes that can be understood. For me, it is less about intellectual comprehension than about a vigilant (emotional) re-experiencing. Only then can the music unfold the effect that is appropriate to it's very special power.

Max Meyer-Olbersleben, born in 1850 in Olbersleben, Thuringia, studied at the Weimar Orchestral School under Franz Liszt, and later at the Royal Music School in Munich under Gabriel Josef Rheinberger and Peter Cornelius. He settled in W�rzburg as a professor of counterpoint and composition and served as director of the Royal Conservatory of Music until his retirement in 1920. During his lifetime, 114 works were published, primarily smaller forms such as choral works, songs, and piano pieces. Through his studies in Weimar and Munich, Meyer-Olbersleben was familiar with both the traditionalist and the new German musical language of that era, and thus the chamber music gems recorded here for the first time bear witness to profound Romantic sensibility and the spirit of a new musical awakening.

Night Surrendering to Dawn features an engaging and eclectic program of works for flute and piano by 21st century composers Valerie Coleman, Christian Ellenwood, Amanda Harberg, and Samuel Zyman. As we move through unprecedented and challenging times, we hope that the pieces on this program serve to remind us that light and hope will return after the dark.

In a time of widespread crisis and social upheaval, this album by the title "In The Spirit of Freedom" by composer and musicologist Joachim Brugge aims above all to emphasize the idea of inspiring subjects - instead of stagnation through mainstream and routine. The idea of freedom naturally forms the indispensable prerequisite for a self-determined life, as shown in the first piece "In The Spirit of Freedom", with references to Ludwig van Beethoven and Walt Whitman. "In The Spirit of Brahms" thematizes an adaptation of individual works by Johannes Brahms, such as some waltzes from Op. 39 and the Violin Concerto, Op. 77. "In The Spirit of History" reflects the seemingly self-evident availability of almost 1000 years of music history in the digital age, with a recourse from the Middle Ages (Perotin) to the 19th century (Edvard Grieg). Finally, "In The Spirit of Fairy Tales" opens up a final perspective on motifs from Finnish fairy tales (in the spirit of Jean Sibelius), with a broad spectrum of fascinating characters, stories and music. The chamber ensemble Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie is conducted by Alexander Drcar, and is supported by soloists Thomas Oberleitner, trumpet, Rodrigo Alegre Vargas, tenor und Monja Heuler, harmonica.

American organist James D. Hicks continues his exploration of organ classics as well as newly-composed, commissioined organ works from Nordic composers in Volume 18 of his Nordic Journey series. In this double-CD release, James is joined in three of the album's 28 tracks by a violinist, a violist and a kantele player. Recorded on the Paschen-Kiel pipe organ in Central Pori Church in Pori, Finland.

On the occasion of the 2025 Kreisler anniversary year, the exceptional violinist Benjamin Schmid posed the question: What happens for the violin in Vienna roughly 100 years after Fritz Kreisler? The result is this phenomenal recording with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna under Lorenz Aichner, featuring orchestrated works by Kreisler and the world premiere recording of the Concerto for Beni for Solo Violin and String Orchestra (2023) by Georg Breinschmid, born in Vienna in 1973. To quote the dedicatee, it is a "magnificent violin concerto that, from my perspective, shares much with the musical understanding of Fritz Kreisler: music with unadulterated joy of playing, which devotes itself immediately and as artfully as possible to the parameters of melody, harmonic experience, and dance-like (or groovy) rhythm. There is always a close relationship to instrumental virtuosity and sonority - something very strongly pronounced in both composers." The album includes Fritz Kreisler's Preludium and Allegro "in the Style of Pugnani" and the Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta in arrangements for (string) orchestra. Kreisler's Concerto in One Movement, based on the first movement of Paganini's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 6, is presented here in an arrangement for wind orchestra, recorded with the Salzburg Wind Philharmonic under Hansj�rg Angerer.

Beginning with the intimate, hushed textures of the solo piano cycle '12 Nocturnes' (2000-14), a night music that drifts from sundown to sunrise, and unfolding into the Piano Concerto No. 3, 'La sera estatica' (2021) - an ecstatic evening touched by the fleeting magic of twilight, where new encounters and possibilities quietly awaken, captured live at it's world premiere by the Copenhagen Phil under John Storg�rds - this album immerses the listener in Bent Sorensen's (b. 1958) profound love of the piano and extraordinary poetic imagination.

While no pianist himself, Nielsen wrote for the instrument throughout his career, and this recorded survey ranges from early and vividly detailed miniatures to adventurous explorations of rhythm and harmony in some of his boldest late works. According to the composer and Nielsen expert Robert Simpson, the pianist Arne Skjold Rasmussen was 'by far the greatest interpreter of Nielsen in any medium.' He made both broadcast and commercial recordings of Nielsen's piano music during the 1950s and 60s, but his 1960 survey had long been presumed lost. This new transfer of those sessions for the BBC is made from tapes of the original broadcast, in excellent sound for the period.

Following his recordings of Tchaikovsky and Barber concertos (BIS-2440), honoured with a "Diapason d'or", Gramophone's "Editor's Choice" and BBC Music Magazine's "Concerto Choice", and Nielsen and Sibelius (BIS-2620), awarded Gramophone's "Editor's Choice", Swedish-Norwegian violinist Johan Dalene now takes on three of the most popular concertante works for violin in the entire repertoire, composed in three different eras. Felix Mendelssohn's Concerto in E minor needs no introduction: this masterpiece from the composer's mature period is one of the best known and most beloved works in all of classical music thanks to it's freshness, originality of writing, and magnificent themes. Max Bruch's First Violin Concerto, another pillar of the violin repertoire, is appreciated for it's natural lyricism and memorable melodies. In these two works, Johan Dalene is accompanied by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by it's concertmaster Malin Broman (Mendelssohn) and by Gemma New (Bruch). Imbued with a serene, meditative spirit and a sense of communion with nature, Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending concludes the program. However, the work is not performed here in it's well-known orchestral version, but rather with choir in an arrangement by Paul Drayton. The Swedish Radio Choir is conducted by it's director Kaspars Putnins, a musical partnership whose recordings on BIS have earned numerous awards.