It is no exaggeration to call Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) one of the two or three most significant Austrian violinists in music history. Decades after his passing, his name remains a vibrant touchstone for music lovers worldwide. Viennese pianist Andrea Linsbauer, who has long immersed herself in Kreisler's enduring legacy, now unveils a singular project with the album "Fritz Kreisler's Heirs". Here, she gathers five of Austria's most celebrated violin virtuosos today Benjamin Schmid, Ekaterina Frolova, Leonhard Baumgartner, Christian Altenburger and Daniel Auner to offer their deeply personal interpretations of Kreisler's miniature masterworks. That these artists have been Andrea Linsbauer's recurring duo partners for years is evident in every note: each performance resonates with the intimacy of shared musical dialogue, honoring Kreisler's own spirit of reinvention.

Following the success of last year's release of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, John Wilson and Sinfonia of London turn their attention to Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel. As in the case of the previous release in the series, this world premiere recording of the complete score features every note of music played at the first Broadway performance, here in the full thirty-five-piece orchestration made by Don Walker for the original production. The outstanding cast, led by Nathaniel Hackmann (Billy Bigelow), Mikaela Bennett (Julie Jordan), Sierra Boggess (Carrie Pipperidge), and Julian Ovenden (Enoch Snow), also features Francesca Chiejina (Nettie Fowler) and David Seadon-Young (Jigger Craigin). The extensive chorus material is sung by the 'Carousel' Ensemble - twenty-four young singers all currently working on stage across London's West End. John Wilson comments: 'Carousel is Rodgers & Hammerstein's greatest achievement. In it, Rodgers manages to create a score with operatic aspirations and dimensions. Everything in the score serves a dramatic purpose. Even in it's texture you can hear orchestral effects that are there to underline the drama's emotions, whether that's unease or joy or whatever. The drama is amplified by what's happening in the music.' Recorded in Surround Sound and Dolby Atmos, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel will be available on Hybrid SACD and in spatial audio.

The First Symphony was largely inspired by the composer's tempestuous love affair with the widowed Baroness Imma von Doernberg, whom Walton met in 1929 and with whom he was living on the Continent in the early 1930s. Although the work was long in gestation, with a particular delay in the composition of the finale, the result was universally acclaimed as an outstanding success, with John Ireland commenting "unlike any other English symphony, this is in the real line of symphonic tradition. It is simply colossal, grand, original, and moving to the emotions to the most extreme degree... It has established you as the most vital and original genius in Europe". Walton's star was in the descendent through the 1950's, with a poor reception to his opera Troilus & Cressida, and equally negative comments for his Cello Concerto, which was widely considered to be embarrassingly old-fashioned in it's essentially neo-romantic idiom. Commissioned by Gregor Piatigorsky (at the suggestion of Heifetz), the work was first performed in Boston under Charles Munch in January 1957, with the UK premiere under Sir Malcolm Sargent following a month later. Walton was unable to attend that concert as he was hospitalised following a car accident on the journey to London from his home in Italy. Now widely perceived as one of Walton's most important late scores, the work is performed here by Sinfonia of London's principal cellist Jonathan Aasgaard.

In celebration of their 25th year together as one of the most adventurous and influential percussion ensembles in contemporary music, So Percussion announces the release of 25x 25. In keeping with the group's forward-looking mission, this 8-disc box set is not a retrospective; more characteristically, it's a stand-alone listening experience, featuring more than 8 hours of entirely new and previously unreleased recordings, with each piece written for, in collaboration with, and premiered by So Percussion. Over the last 25 years, the members of So - Jason Treuting, Adam Sliwinski, Josh Quillen, and Eric Cha-Beach - have been hailed for their gripping performances and wildly creative collaborations. Cantaloupe Music (the label launched by the Bang on a Can collective, which released So's first-ever album in 2004), is pleased to offer this collection to longtime fans and newcomers alike. It's both a comprehensive portrait, and a forecasting of where contemporary chamber music is heading.

Antonio Soler enjoyed high prestige at Spain's royal palace, the Escorial, where his contributions to keyboard technique, harmonic innovation and his Spanish musical identity served to bridge the stylistic gap between the late Baroque and early Classicism. Soler's innovations have often been overlooked but the intricate modulations and rhythmic vitality found in his sonatas offer compelling evidence of their importance. Sonatas Nos. 99-111 offer a wealth of entrancing features, which include sophisticated ornamentation, a synthesis of contrapuntal and Iberian folkloric traditions, and humorous cadences.

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 première recording of Helena Winkelman's Threesome in a High-den."

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.

For a period of the 20th Century, due to his talent and association with Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears was perhaps the world's most famous classical singer. Pears inspired Britten to create great works of art precisely because Pears was a compelling artist with an exceptional voice, an inquisitive mind, a knowledge of art, history, literature and poetry. They became a self-perpetuating duo, inspiring each other to even greater heights of artistry, technical ability, and emotional certainty. This album of works by Lennox Berkeley, Benjamin Britten, Arthur Oldham, Richard Rodney Bennett and Geoffrey Bush is performed by tenor Robin Tritschler, who is joined by cellist Philip Higham, guitarist Sean Shibe and pianist Malcolm Martineau. Praise for Robin Tritschler and Malcolm Martineau: 4 stars Performance, 4 stars Recording "Robin Tritschler's sweet-toned voice is a continual delight, as is Malcolm Martineau's sparkling, pearly, luminous piano sound" - BBC Music Magazine

If the flamboyant guitarist who is Gaëlle Solal has grasped one truth above all, it is that some paths must wander before they arrive. Her devoted companionship with Brazilian musicians, whether in Rio or far beyond, has given her not only the language but also the effortless sway of the Carioca rhythms that have woven themselves into our musical imagination for more than a century. From Choro to Maxixe, these nostalgic or restless pieces carry us to a place on earth that never ceases to fascinate, precisely because it never ceases transforming. From the roots of Brejeiro to the Concerto of Heitor Villa-Lobos and through the luminous popular instinct of Chiquinha Gonzaga, Gaëlle Solal leads us toward an inspired celebration of the magical myth of the Saci. Here, through the voice of composer Clarice Assad, this mischievous spirit of Rio has become a Concerto for the sovereign instrument of a Brazil that we have long dreamed of hearing so closely.

The Gondoliers, the twelfth of fourteen operas from Gilbert & Sullivan, has been an audience favourite since it's 1889 premiere. The tunes are infectious, the romantic and family conflicts heartfelt, and the satire of rank and station constantly entertaining and relevant. This Scottish Opera co-production with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and State Opera South Australia is created by some of the world's foremost G&S enthusiasts and experts.

The Gondoliers, the twelfth of fourteen operas from Gilbert & Sullivan, has been an audience favourite since it's 1889 premiere. The tunes are infectious, the romantic and family conflicts heartfelt, and the satire of rank and station constantly entertaining and relevant. This Scottish Opera co-production with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and State Opera South Australia is created by some of the world's foremost G&S enthusiasts and experts.

Ronald Stevenson (1928-2015) was perhaps the only virtuoso pianist-composer in the manner of Rachmaninov and Liszt to have Celtic origins, and so it is natural to find a Celtic flavour emerging in his music - his transcriptions as well as his original compositions. It also helps explain his affinity for fellow composers like Grieg and Grainger, whose creative efforts looked to the north. But Stevenson's openness of spirit put the whole world of music within his reach, and so piano rags can here rub shoulders with works more directly concerned to express his humanist impulse.

Petter Udland Johansen has been known for years as an exceptional interpreter of early music. With his distinctive voice and keen sense of style and text interpretation, he has made a name for himself as a specialist in repertoire from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. Now he is opening a new chapter: on his album Where Is Love, the versatile singer turns his attention for the first time to the great songs of the American Songbook timeless classics by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers and other masters. Johansen is joined by Christian Gutfleisch, his ideal musical partner at the piano. Gutfleisch performs on a Bluthner grand piano from 1910, whose warm, velvety tone forms a poetic bridge between past and present. The instrument seems to carry within it the sound world of the very era in which many of these songs were written - while offering an abundance of color and intimacy that perfectly suits the duo's chamber-like approach.

The Brussels court attracted some of the greatest composers and organists of the time at the beginning of the 17th century, including Peter Philips, Peeter Cornet, John Bull, and, a little later, Abraham Van den Kerckhoven, all of whom explored new ways of making organs sound. Flemish and Walloon organ builders throughout Europe, and in Spain and France in particular, were building instruments at that time that were to have a profound influence on organ building in those countries.

Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews' Is a Rare Artist Who Can Draw Both the Unqualified Respect of Jazz Legends And Deliver a High-Energy Rock Show Capable of Mesmerizing International Rock Stars And Audiences Alike. With Such An Unprecedented Mix of Rock, Funk, Jazz, Hip-Hop And Soul, He Had to Create His Own Name to Describe His Signature Sound: Supafunkrock! Andrews Is the Kind of Player Who Comes Along Maybe Once in a Generation, And Backatown Is the Latest, Clearest Proof That His Artistry Is As Singular As His Raw Talent.

2-CD Set Limited Edition - Includes 16-page booklet. This release contains Jimmy Smith's complete classic Sermon sessions for the first time ever on a single set. These are his only preserved collaborations with Lee Morgan, the formidable trumpet player whose life came to a tragic end after being shot by his girlfriend at the tender age of 33. Tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks is also well featured here. The outstanding reedman would pass away at the age of 42 after a life of drug addiction and self abuse. 2 COMPLETE ALBUMS & MORE - 2-CD SET - CD1/TT: 73:17 CD2/TT: 72:14 - LIMITED EDITION - INCLUDES 16-PAGE BOOKLET

Christmas with The King's Singers New music, old music, music from the Renaissance and Baroque, spirituals, folksongs, jazz and pop... The Beatles, David Bowie, swing, classical avantgarde, waltzes by Strauss, and musical theatre songs. Which genre of music are the King's Singers actually yet to interpret? Which style have they not yet captured within their unique global reach and within their transparent and intimate six-voiced sound world? One thing is for sure - when the King's Singers came together at the end of the 1960s in Cambridge, no one would have believed the success story that lay ahead of them. Some musical experts were scathing: a male-only vocal sextet was most likely to be found in the pop sector. But trained voices are surely better suited to a professional career either in the opera world or in mixed professional choirs. After all, the founding members came from the famous King's College Choir - one of the oldest surviving vocal institutions with nearly 500 years of history to it's name. It is with this tradition behind them that the King's Singers display the typical British musical virtues in which seriousness and humour, self-discipline, and a dash of satire all mix together so wonderfully. This is especially evident in their Christmas repertoire. Christmas carols are a special national treasure for Brits and are therefore the focus of festivities. The six voices' festive destinations also include the continent, such as Spain and Germany. "Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen" by the German early Baroque master composer Michael Praetorius has become a Christmas standard. The world famous carol "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht" ("Silent Night") comes from the German-speaking world too, written for Christmas Eve in a village near Salzburg in 1818. The simple, classical melody radiates a little of the spirit of Mozart, who was born in Salzburg. What a pity there is no musical contribution to these Christmas festivities from Mozart, the King's Singers may have thought! Perhaps that's how they came up with the idea for an amusing and cheeky Christmas medley of melodies from the great classical composer, reinforced by the harpsichord playing of English conductor Richard Hickox and the singing of guest star Kiri Te Kanawa. © Oliver Buslau, 2017 Translation: texthouse

Roscoe Mitchell - One Head Four People - Roscoe Mitchell (Art Ensemble Of Chicago) was 2023's recipient of an American Society of Arts and Letters award which let to the creation of this work. Mainly a trio and quartet work Roscoe plays Bass saxophone as well as his percussion array.