Amen Feizabadi presents his new chamber opera, 'Deep Siesta', on his portrait album. It tells the story of the artificial beings ok and Mani, who - born of digital chaos - discover the world with curiosity and an open mind. They encounter beauty and emotions, but also the contradictions and abysses of the human condition, and resolve to destroy humanity and, ultimately, themselves. With 'Deep Siesta', Feizabadi dares to offer a radical shift in perspective on the ubiquitous discourse surrounding artificial intelligence: we experience human existence from the AI's point of view. Through the protagonists' eyes, we look as though through a prism, in which our own reflection is shattered into it's myriad components and appears alien and shadowy to us. The 85-minute work 'Deep Siesta' focuses on acoustic music - performed by the Zafraan Ensemble and the Neue Vocalsolisten. However, the boundary between reality and virtuality becomes increasingly blurred by AI-generated voices, images and electronic sound effects. Dilek Mayatürk's libretto also enters into a dialogue with the aimless AI. Starting with scattered fragments of words and progressing to more complex linguistic connections, it builds to an emotional climax in the shift from German to Persian. This is interwoven with auratic elements of traditional Persian music, in an attempt at a universal reinterpretation.

The Promise: Jazz Inspired Music for Advent and Christmas brings together two distinct programmes by English composer Will Todd, performed by St Martin's Voices and the Will Todd Ensemble under director Andrew Earis. The centrepiece is The Promise, Todd's third large-scale jazz oratorio, commissioned by the Soochow University Alumni Choir and premiered in Taiwan in December 2025, setting Advent and Christmas texts alongside an original lyric by the composer. The album also presents a new recording of Todd's popular jazz carol arrangements, originally commissioned by St Martin-in-the-Fields in 2012 and reissued here in updated editions, with St Martin's Brass.

Printing music was expensive in the 18th century and copying manuscripts was commonplace. The works in this premiere recording are part of a collection of five volumes of recorder music titled Sinfonie dei varij autori bearing the name Paolo Antonio Parensi (1688-1749), who was thought to have been an amateur musician in Lucca, Italy. Several of the works in this collection are by Robert Valentine (c. 1674-1747) but there is little know about his life: he was from Leicester, England, but left for Rome in his early 20's to carve out his career. We don't know what his connection to Parensi was, but this collection is a hugely valuable source of Italian recorder repertoire from the earlier part of the 18th century. Several of his sonatas were also published by Walsh & Hare, but this premiere recording presents his Opus 11 as it appears in Parensi manuscript, as 12 recorder and basso continuo sonatas. Valentine wrote over 60 works for the recorder - his output makes him one of the most prolific composers of recorder repertoire in the early 18th century.

For his debut solo album, Zachary Hatcher explores the contrasts that define the harp: the shift between ancient and modern and the thin line between dreams and nightmares. The album is built around Zachary's own transcription of Maurice Ravel's Ondine. The piece has long been absent from the harp repertoire because of it's immense difficulty; Zachary is currently the only harpist performing it. This focus on the outer limits of the instrument continues with his own Sonata for solo harp, a work in three movements-Burlesque, Waltz, and Prayer-that reflects his recent return to composition. The album also features Consolation and Swan Descending, two works by Per Norgård that capture a specific Nordic introspection, as well as Paul Hindemith's Sonata and Henriette Renie's Piece Symphonique; these two works, while standard for harpists, are stylistically unusual for their composers.

Debut album of the outstanding Czech violinist Jan Mracek The debut album of Jan Mracek, concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, introduces one of the leading Czech violinists of his generation in repertoire that combines virtuosity, lyricism, and youthful energy. The album's centrepiece is Josef Suk's Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 24, one of the crowning achievements of the Czech violin repertoire, reflecting the composer on the threshold of his mature creative period. The work combines a solo part of exceptional technical difficulty with rich orchestral colours and characteristic melodic invention. Accompanying Jan Mracek are the Czech Philharmonic under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, a world-famous conductor with a deep affinity for Czech music. Suk's Fantasy is paired with two early Romantic works with the soloist accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. Franz Schubert's enchanting Rondo in A major for Violin and Strings blends melodic grace, elegance, and immediacy of expression. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy wrote his Concerto in D minor for Violin and Chamber Orchestra at the beginning of his career at just 13 years of age. The work nonetheless exhibits noteworthy compositional assurance, a keen sense of form, and confident handling of the solo part. In all three compositions, Jan Mracek shows himself to be a performer combining technical brilliance with musical intelligence, stylistic sensitivity, and natural musicianship, and he is able to capture the individual character of each work.

Metier presents the world premiere recording of Sinan C. Savaskan's captivating Concerto Eleven Conditions of Responsibility, written for and performed by the Octandre Ensemble, under conductor Jonathan Hargreaves. Savaskan has had a long association with the ensemble, having served as their inaugural Composer-in-Residence. Conceived as part of the composer's ongoing epic cycle Many Stares through Semi-Nocturnal Zeiss-Blink, Eleven Conditions of Responsibility embodies Savaskan's radical approach to composition. His constructivist methodology means that all the parameters of his music are dependent on the formal architecture, itself based on the behaviour and properties of sound and it's circular, logarithmic characteristics, giving rise to intricate, evocative works. During the COVID period when everyday life was so different, Savaskan read works by Henri Bergson and emile Durkheim, scholars from the turn of the 19th century, altering the way he thought about the fourth dimension - 'duration' (rather than time), space, and our attitude to commitments, therefore responsibilities. Savaskan came up with eleven of his own responsibilities, and became aware of how we conceptualise and adopt them. This became the basis for eleven thematic segments spread across the 3 main sections of the Concerto, 'little icons, as it were, to meditate upon', which each have their own fundamental pitch and related pulse. Circular Functions, the particular harmonic/structural method he has developed over the past 45 years, dictates how these segments are integrated into the three larger harmonic arcs. The three sections of 'Eleven Conditions of Responsibility' are modules 141, 148, and 11 of the cycle Many Stares through Semi-Nocturnal Zeiss-Blink, projected eventually to contain 360 pieces, reflecting the contemplation of a particular static object from different angles, covering 360 degrees. The pieces are assigned numbers which refer in some way to important dates in their conception. In December 2015, Savaskan's Many Stares through semi-nocturnal Zeiss-blink (Module 30), an Octandre commission, won a BASCA British Composer Award. Sinan C. Savaskan is based in London, as a composer, lecturer, and teacher of composition, and was Head of Academic Music at Westminster School for thirty-seven years. His music has been commissioned, performed, and broadcast in over thirty countries by some of the foremost performers, ensembles, and orchestras. In 2000, Savaskan was selected as the recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts' prestigious Grants to Artists Award - the first British composer to receive this award. He has also written much ballet and incidental music, as well as music for film. In 2025, Metier Records released Sinan Savaskan's album of music for solo flute and electronics, The Sleep of Reason, with celebrated flautist Noemi Gyori, an arresting collection of works exploring the full expressive range of the flute. The Octandre Ensemble was formed in 2011 by composer Christian Mason and conductor Jon Hargreaves, their core repertoire being music written after 1945, with an emphasis on timbre and ritual. ?

Julius Eastman: Gay Guerilla presents three landmark works by one of the most compelling and visionary voices in late 20th-century music. Performed by the New European Ensemble under the artistic direction of Emlyn Stam, this recording explores Eastman's unique concept of 'organic music,' where repetition, accumulation, and performer agency create powerful, ever-evolving musical landscapes. Featuring Joy Boy, Buddha, and Gay Guerilla, the album reveals a composer whose music remains as urgent, fearless, and emotionally charged today as ever.  Far more than a historical rediscovery, this recording embraces Eastman's music as a living artistic practice. Drawing on Jessie Montgomery's acclaimed arrangement of Gay Guerilla alongside imaginative interpretations of two rarely heard ensemble works, the New European Ensemble captures the spirit of collaboration, experimentation, and social engagement that lies at the heart of Eastman's legacy. The result is a gripping and thought-provoking journey through music that challenges conventions while celebrating collective creativity, resilience, and hope for a more just future.

1795 was a good year for music on all accounts: old grandmaster Haydn saw the performance of his 104th and final symphony, while young Beethoven was sketching out the final movement of his first. Acclaimed Texan period ensemble Philharmonie Austin juxtaposes the two on BEETHOVEN-HAYDN, rounding off the program with Haydn's much-loved early Cello Concerto No. 1. As close as the two symphonies may be chronologically, they differ markedly in spirit. The motor in Haydn's works is mercurial wit; the driver in Beethoven's symphonies, a rather primordial force that would later push chamber ensembles to expand to the gigantic dimensions of the modern orchestra. But Mark Dupere and Philharmonie Austin have a trick up their sleeves: they underline the revolutionary aspects of Haydn, and then trace them again in Beethoven. Original and clever — the old master would have been pleased.

In celebration of the 25th-anniversary of London Handel Players in 2025, SOMM Recordings released Telemann 'Paris' Quartets, Volume 1 [SOMMCD 0698]. Critics lauded the album for it's deep affection and impeccable musicianship, with Gramophone highlighting flautist Rachel Brown's 'easy agility' and the group's rich, inviting tone; and BBC Music Magazine praising their attention to subtle, expressive details. Now, SOMM is releasing Telemann 'Paris' Quartets, Volume 2 with LHP, featuring once again leading period-instrument specialists Rachel Brown flute; Adrian Butterfield violin; Gavin Kibble viola da gamba; Sarah McMahon cello; and Silas Wollston harpsichord. In 1737, Georg Philipp Telemann paid a long-awaited celebrity visit to Paris at the invitation of four prominent French musicians: flute virtuoso Michel Blavet; Franco-Italian violinist Jean-Pierre Guignon; viol player Jean-Baptiste Forqueray the younger, and an unidentified cellist-harpsichordist known in the historical records as Prince edouard. In preparation for this visit and in admiration of the musicians, Telemann had composed six Quadri, for flute, violin, viola da gamba or cello, and continuo. Telemann was one of the first great self-publishers, and his publication of the Quadri was such a success that the Parisian publisher Le Clerc brought out an edition without the composer's permission. This, finally, was the spur for Telemann to take an eight month leave of absence from his full schedule in Hamburg to visit Paris. While there, he composed a second set of quartets-the six Nouveaux Quatuors recorded here. It was in the second half of the twentieth century that the editors of the Telemann Musikalische Werke collectively named these two sets of quartets the 'Paris quartets.' Like the earlier set of Quadri, the six Nouveaux Quatuors are scored for flute, violin, viola da gamba, and continuo, with an optional adaptation of the gamba part for cello. The set comprises six suites, each with six or seven movements, and Telemann exploits countless ways of combining the instruments to create a huge variety of textures. All twelve quartets were played during Telemann's Parisian visit by the four musicians who had invited him, with the composer himself at the harpsichord. Paris was taken by storm, and news of the quartets spread throughout Europe, with subscribers to the publication including musicians like Charpentier, Mondonville, Fasch, Pisendel-and a certain Mr Bach of Leipzig. Telemann's sojourn in Paris left a lasting impression on him. Two years after returning to Hamburg, he reported on the effect of his quartets: 'The admirable performances of these quartets would be worth describing were it possible for words to be found to do them justice. In short, they procured for me in a very little time an almost universal renown and increased esteem.'

Drummer composer Steve Johns returns to SteepleChase with Extrasensory, his most fully realized statement since his acclaimed 2024 release Mythology (SCCD 31971). Reuniting the same core ensemble - guitarist John Hart, vibraphonist/harmonica player Monte Croft, pianist Greg Murphy, and bassist Joris Teepe - Johns builds on the band's deepening chemistry, now sharpened by the fiery presence of saxophonist Troy Roberts on select tracks. The program highlights Johns' dual gifts: modern, structurally inventive writing and dynamic, deeply musical drumming shaped by decades on the New York scene. Contrafacts, reharmonized standards, soulful vocals, and vibrant originals form a wide stylistic arc, from angular modern swing to luminous ballads and earthy shuffles. Throughout, Johns shapes textures and grooves with masterful clarity, guiding a group whose intuitive interplay truly earns the album's title. Extrasensory affirms Johns as a drummer leader of imagination and unmistakable voice. 'Mythology' is an album full of imagination, stories and some fantastic playing by this amazing lineup of world-class musicians.' (A Green Review on SCCD 31971)

With Oltremare, acclaimed harpist Danielle Riegel offers a deeply personal tribute to the music of Ludovico Einaudi, reimagining some of his most beloved works through the intimate voice of the Celtic harp. Inspired by the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean and a shared artistic journey toward simplicity, presence, and emotional honesty, Riegel transforms Einaudi's timeless melodies into luminous, meditative soundscapes that invite reflection and deep listening. From the flowing waves of the title work Oltremare to the quiet beauty of Nuvole Bianche, I Giorni, and selections from Einaudi's album 'Underwater', this recording explores music as a space of connection - between performer and listener, nature and emotion, stillness and imagination. Spacious, organic, and profoundly expressive, Oltremare is an immersive listening experience that carries familiar music beyond the horizon, revealing new colours, depth, and serenity.

Ensemble Altera, directed by it's founder Christopher Lowrey, presents The Four Elements, a journey through wind, earth, water, fire and, finally, quintessence-the ancient idea of a fifth essence. Across five chapters, music from the Renaissance to the present explores these forces not as fixed substances but as living metaphors: breath and inspiration, rootedness and belonging, stillness and flow, passion and transformation, and what may lie beyond the material world. Known for imaginative programming and a warm, focused transatlantic sound, Ensemble Altera brings together music by William Byrd, Charles Villiers Stanford, Eriks Esenvalds, Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, Owain Park, Rebecca Dale and others. The programme pairs choral landmarks with new commissions and fresh arrangements, including world-premiere recordings of Michael Garrepy's Flame of Love and Daniel Gledhill's For the beauty of the earth, winner of Ensemble Altera's 2021 Composition Competition. The result is a vividly shaped meditation on nature, humanity and imagination, moving from the first breath of wind to the stillness of quintessence.

This album from St Martin's Voices under director Andrew Earis brings together eighteen Christmas choral works by a wide range of contemporary composers. Telling the story of the nativity, music by Cecilia McDowall, Gabriel Jackson and James Whitbourn is featured alongside pieces from the next generation of choral composers including Grace-Evangeline Mason, Kerensa Briggs and Emily Hazrati. From settings of ancient texts such as O magnum mysterium and Adam lay ybounden to more modern poetry by Ursula Askham Fanthorpe and Charles Anthony Silvestri, the music spans a variety of styles and moods. Thoughtfully curated and stylishly performed, these premiere recordings narrate the Christmas story from prophecy to birth, adding fresh material to the festive repertoire and highlighting the ongoing creativity of British choral music.

Tenor saxophonist Matt Garcia makes a compelling SteepleChase debut with Three's Up, revealing a mature voice shaped by deep study, hard work, and a fast rising presence on the New York scene. A Texas native now at Juilliard, Garcia brings a blend of tradition with modern clarity that reflects his years in NYO Jazz (Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra), his award winning early career, and formative mentorship from artists such as Dave Pietro and Christian McBride. Joined by bassist Martin Wind and drummer Billy Drummond, he leads a vibrant trio through standards, bebop classics, and five originals that highlight his melodic focus and rhythmic drive. Pieces like 'White Silence' and 'Dance's Dance' showcase a young composer with a clear artistic identity. Three's Up introduces a tenor saxophonist whose expressive depth mark him as a significant new voice to watch.

Jeannette Sorrell, the pioneering founder and director of baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire, always has unique vision for her interpretations of the classic repertoire. And so it is with this recording of J. S. Bach's Mass in B Minor that draws the listener into an equally fresh, intimate and searing emotional journey - from the anguished opening outcry through to moments of joy, pathos, triumph, and ultimately, a vision of peace. Jeannette explains, 'While music is always an emotional journey, I feel that Bach's Mass is an exceptionally cathartic and healing one for our time'. Aiming to emulate the intimacy of Bach's own performances of the B Minor Mass, which the composer completed in the year prior to his death, Jeannette utilises twenty-four instrumentalists and twenty-two choristers, including the five soloists. As summed up by Chicago Classical Review, which named Sorrell's and Apollo's Fire's live performance one of the Best 10 Concerts of 2025, 'Easily one of the most memorable concerts of recent years the vocal ensemble was inspired throughout The instrumental consort was in brilliant form, playing with unimpeachable balance and intonation and a sensitivity to the dancelike elements of the mass. Presiding over it all was Jeannette Sorrell, who with understated grace led her charges on a moving traversal of Bach's unsurpassed canvas'.

Four chapters across generations: 'Danish Resonances' sets accordion works by Hans Abrahamsen, Niels Rosing-Schow and Per Norgard against four newly commissioned world premieres by Anders Skibsted, Loic Destremau, Matias Vestergard and Gustav Bjerre. Accordionist Jose Valente threads them into a single, unfolding journey that moves by turns lyrical, virtuosic, introspective and expansive, revealing the full expressive range of the classical accordion.

Beethoven's Seventh Symphony emerged at a biographical crossroads, between his definitive establishment as a leading composer and the onset of increasing isolation caused by his advancing deafness. At the time of it's premiere, it was the second-longest symphony ever written, surpassed in scale only by Beethoven's own Third, the 'Eroica.' Since it's first performance in 1813, there has never been a period in which it was not counted to the composer's most popular works. Since 2025, Francois-Xavier Roth-who had already served as Chief Conductor of the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg from 2011 to 2016-has been Chief Conductor of the SWR Symphony Orchestra. A musical visionary and remarkably versatile conductor, Roth has recorded and released all of Richard Strauss's tone poems, the ballets of Igor Stravinsky, the orchestral works of Ravel and Berlioz, as well as the complete symphonies of Bruckner, Mahler, and Schumann. With the present recording, Roth and the SWR Symphony Orchestra set a highly musical opening marker for a collaboration that promises to continue with great momentum in the years ahead.

Basically, I only have two symphonies: the Fourth and the Eighth.' Shostakovich is said to have remarked. Yevgeny Mravinsky, to whom Symphony No. 8 is dedicated, wrote in his diary: 'I spent the whole evening reflecting on and sketching out the form and dramatic arc of Shostakovich's Eighth. It moves me ever more deeply each time. Especially the "Great Terror" section of the first movement!!'. The themes of martyrdom and the transformation of the human being into a manipulable puppet run through this unsettling and monumental work. This recording constitutes the second volume of the complete Shostakovich symphonies by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by it's music director, Alain Altinoglu.

John Wilson and Sinfonia of London continue their series of complete recordings of shows from the golden age of Broadway with Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls. The show opened in 1950, ran for 1,200 performances, and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. The book is based on short stories by Damon Runyon, written in the 1920s and 1930s. These stories concerned gangsters, gamblers, and other characters of the New York underworld. Runyon was known for the unique comic dialect he employed in his stories; mixing highly formal language, without contractions, and colourful slang. As in all previous issues in this series, John Wilson has gone back to the original orchestrations of the show's opening night, and the recording includes every note. In the case of Guys and Dolls, these originals were lost (subsequent productions had used a simplified orchestration calling for fewer players), but have been painstakingly reconstructed by Larry Moore. Wilson says of his soloists: 'Casting is so important, choosing singers who not only perform the role but who can make an impression on a record. I keep my eyes peeled and, on every recording, you see new additions, but at the core there is a group of artists who I know can turn up on a Monday morning for the recording and deliver the goods. That extends right through the ensemble which is a collection of the brightest stars in London.' The notable additions for this recording are Damien Humbley as Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Sir Thomas Allen (persuaded by John to come out of retirement!) in the role of Arvide Abernathy.

Swiss-French pianist and theatre artist Maren Gamper presents her first solo album dedicated to the work of Swiss writer, journalist and poet Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942). The album is an improvised reflection on Schwarzenbach's text "Erdenschwere" ("eartly heaviness"). The concept of 'earthly heaviness' is a central theme in the literary work of the Swiss author. It describes existential melancholy, a sense of rootlessness, and the deep inner conflict between a longing for freedom and the weight of one's own life. In her intense, masterful, and captivating performance, Maren Gamper brings to life the emotions and deeper layers of meaning in this text-a performance that will leave no listener unmoved. Recorded on a 1919 Bluther piano in a quiet studio on the Baltic Sea, far from the noise and distractions of everyday life, this album offers a profound meditation and an inner journey through the pain, doubt, and, ultimately, the light and love of human existence.