Toward the Sea brings together three works for flute and guitar which explore memory, place and transformation. EMI Ferguson and Michael Poll trace a journey from the dance halls of Buenos Aires in Astor Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango, through the luminous stillness of Elizabeth Ogonek's Altair, to the meditative sound world of Toru Takemitsu's Toward the Sea. Recorded at the Stone Church in rural Massachusetts, the program reflects the duo's artistic partnership, which began through online collaborations during the pandemic before developing into live performances across the United States. Their own arrangement of Ogonek's Altair sits naturally between two landmark works, highlighting the continuing vitality of the flute and guitar repertoire. Ferguson, an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, and Poll, equally active as a guitarist and conductor, approach this repertoire as equal musical partners, allowing the distinctive voices of flute and guitar to emerge across music that ranges from Piazzolla's rhythmic vitality to Takemitsu's suspended, atmospheric sound world.
The Seasons unites two visionary responses to nature across three centuries, pairing Antonio Vivaldi's iconic Le quattro stagioni with Astor Piazzolla's sultry Las cuatro estaciones portenas in Leonid Desyatnikov's electrifying arrangement for violin and strings. Violinist and director Soojin Han leads the English Chamber Orchestra in a vibrant dialogue between Venetian countryside and Buenos Aires nightlife, where birdsong and storms meet smoky tango rhythms and shifting emotional weather. Playful musical quotations blur the boundaries between the two works, with winter appearing in summer and summer in winter, suggesting that the seasons are shaped as much by memory and imagination as by the natural world. Recorded in Studio Two at Abbey Road Studios, this recording reflects the wide-ranging musical perspective Soojin Han has developed through a career spanning solo performance, chamber music and orchestral leadership. It is an approach that allows these familiar masterpieces to unfold with both the freedom of chamber music and the brilliance of a virtuoso performance.
Mozart's piano sonatas reveal an extraordinary range of character, from effortless lyricism to profound emotional intensity. In the third volume of his complete survey, pianist Jae-Hyuck Cho performs three contrasting sonatas which form an arc from light into shadow, before emerging into light once more. Opening with the luminous Sonata in C major, K. 330, the program moves to the dramatic A minor Sonata, K. 310, one of Mozart's most emotionally charged keyboard works, before concluding with the freshness and wit of the G major Sonata, K. 283. Together, these three sonatas reveal Mozart's ability to combine elegance, theatrical instinct and deep humanity. Cho approaches these works with a distinctly vocal perspective, shaping each phrase as though sung and drawing on Mozart's close relationship with opera. The result is a performance of warmth, clarity and expressive freedom that allows each sonata's individual voice to emerge while revealing the broader narrative that connects them. This third instalment continues a thoughtfully conceived cycle that places musical character and storytelling at it's heart.
Anton Bruckner's Eighth Symphony stands among the largest and most ambitious works in the orchestral repertoire. Completed after the success of his Seventh Symphony and extensively revised before it's eventual premiere in 1892, it unfolds on an epic scale, combining monumental architecture with moments of profound introspection. Recorded by the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Karl-Heinz Steffens, this new album presents the 1890 Nowak edition of the symphony, and continues Steffens' exploration of the Austro-German symphonic tradition with one of Bruckner's most expansive and richly scored works.
Multiple Grammy-nominated Estonian bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann showcases the expressive power and versatility of his instrument in this compel]ing album featuring three concertos written for him by close collaborators: Tonu Korvits, Eino Tamberg, and Erkki-Sven Tuur. With the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under Mihhail Gerts, this recording offers a vivid journey through contemporary Estonian soundscapes-from Tamberg's Stravinskyan dynamism and Korvits's folk-infused impressionism to Tuur's rhythmically charged reinvention. The album is a bold testament to the bassoon's modern voice from one of the instrument's foremost exponents.
Rising star Manami Suzuki makes her highly anticipated recording debut on Orchid Classics, following the pianist's historic win at the 12th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, where she became the first Japanese and first female laureate of the prestigious award while also earning the coveted Audience Prize. Showcasing the poise and vitality that captivated audiences during the Hamamatsu Competition, Suzuki presents Haydn's elegant Piano Sonata No.13 alongside Schubert's expansive and lyrical Sonata in G major, D.894, as well as works by Bach and Szymanowski. These masterpieces reveal Suzuki's exceptional sensitivity, profound expressiveness, and the range of her interpretive insight.
The Far Flung Trio are Katherine Hunka (violin), Dermot Dunne (accordion) and Malachy Robinson (double bass): the name reflects their sense of fun and the eclecticism in their programing and performances. All leading Irish players, the trio is fueled by the sheer joy generated in playing together. This evident rapport is one of the elements that particularly delights audiences, and their aim has always been to deliver the highest calibre of musicianship in a way that is appealing and accessible to all. The trio's new album, Umbrellas, delivers a track list of their favorite pieces, by Gershwin, Piazzolla, Brahms and many more, performed with a freshness and fun that mark the Far Flung Trio apart.
Celebrated accordionist Bjarke Mogensen showcases the full expressive power of the classical accordion in this compelling album of 20th and 21st-century concertos. Concertos & Movements spans diverse sound worlds, featuring music by Ihor Shamo, Anders Koppel, and Ole Schmidt-three composers united by their innovation and curiosity. The centrepiece is Shamo's Concerto for Accordion and String Orchestra (1981), a rarely heard Ukrainian work blending cathedral-like sonorities with folkloric flair. Two movements from Anders Koppel's Accordion Concerto No.2 receive world-premiere recordings: the introspective Cadenza for solo accordion, and the rhythmically charged Allegro con brio, arranged for chamber ensemble. Ole Schmidt's Concerto No.2 (1963), another world premiere, is a virtuosic and jazzinflected work that was decades ahead of it's time. Across all works, Mogensen's dynamic interpretations are supported by Denmark's finest ensembles, including the Aarhus Chamber Orchestra under Magnus Plejdrup.
To mark it's tenth anniversary, The Fourth Choir presents Songs of Ourselves - a powerful and diverse collection of choral works that reflects the ensemble's mission to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and it's commitment to artistic excellence, inclusivity, and amplifying underrepresented voices. Spanning five centuries, the program features first studio recordings of works by living composers such as Kerry Andrew, Shruthi Rajasekar, and Stuart Beatch alongside Renaissance gems by Raffaella Aleotti, Caterina Assandra, and Vicente Lusitano. From the ecstatic longing of Emily Dickinson's "Wild Nights" to the poetic resistance of Mahvash Sabet in "The Imaginary Garden", these songs explore love, identity, nature, and protest. The music is united by a spirit of liberation and individuality while The Fourth Choir delivers a richly expressive, a cappella performance that honors the past while speaking urgently to the present. This is an album of courage, beauty, and choral artistry-offered with pride.
Depicting the arc of a musician's day in Paris, from Chanson du Matin to Chanson de Nuit, Lumiere du Temps is the debut album from Italian violinist Lucilla Rose Mariotti. A laureate of numerous international competitions and already a veteran of concert halls worldwide, Lucilla Rose has been celebrated for her performances at iconic venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall, as well as performing for King Charles at Highgrove. Lumiere du Temps features intimate works from the Belle Epoque era, including pieces by Elgar, D'Ambrosio, Rachmaninov, Debussy and Boulanger. Each miniature evokes the essence of the period, weaving lyrical elegance with deep emotional resonance and wistful reflections on the past.
Double Concertos brings together three works by composer and conductor Eric Nathan, each exploring the expressive possibilities of paired solo voices in dialogue with space, memory, and one another. Written between 2019 and 2023, the pieces on this album grew from Nathan's long-standing fascination with how two individuals interact through sound-coming together, diverging, supporting, and remembering. The Double Concertos for violin and clarinet, and for two violas, are shaped by close personal relationships between the soloists, while Just a Moment for two antiphonal oboes reflects on distance and connection, both physical and emotional. Across the album, Nathan sets present-day musical language in conversation with older forms and gestures, drawing on spatial placement, texture, and timbre to create music that is intimate in scale yet expansive in feeling. Themes of mentorship, partnership, love, and loss run quietly through these works, performed here by long-time collaborators and musicians closely connected to the music's origins.
A compelling introduction to the choral works of Simon Beattie, this album showcases a fresh yet deeply rooted voice in British music. Entirely self-taught, Beattie draws on the English choral tradition with a rare sensitivity to text and vocal colour. His settings range from medieval Latin liturgy to contemporary poetry by Rowan Williams and Carol Ann Duffy, as well as Beattie's own English translations of Rilke and Heine. Highlights include Advent Calendar, first broadcast by St John's College, Cambridge; the evocative Missa Sanctae Annae for upper voices; and poignant standalone works such as A Remembrance and The World to me. Whether writing for massed voices or just two lines in counterpoint, Beattie's music is marked by narrative clarity, lyrical precision, and emotional resonance. Performed by the London Choral Sinfonia under Michael Waldron, this album includes many premiere recordings and affirms Beattie's growing reputation as a distinctive choral composer.
Jean Cocteau was many things: poet, playwright, artist, filmmaker, collaborator, self-inventor - each description fits, but none is sufficient. His work darts and pivots, one mask slipping as another appears. But beneath the surface, the same fixations recur, especially love, death, dependence and abandonment. This album stays close to his restlessness, touching melodrama, popular culture, prayer, aphorism, dance, cabaret and theatre, as styles collide, and the masks occasionally fall. At the centre of the program stands La Voix Humaine, Cocteau's searing study of love, loss and fractured communication, alongside a sequence of songs by Poulenc, Milhaud, Honegger, Auric and others reflecting Cocteau's wide artistic circle, where high art and popular culture meet without hierarchy. The result is not a comprehensive survey, but rather a carefully drawn portrait, shaped by affection and curiosity.
This new album brings together three works by Edward Picton-Turbervill, centred on Out of Eden, a large-scale meditation on humanity's relationship with the natural world. Written for the London Choral Sinfonia and a small group of instrumentalists, Out of Eden creates a rich sound world from modest forces, the score moving between moments of stillness and intensity as it combines choral writing with solo voices and instrumental color. The program is framed by two shorter works. Spell of Creation and Spell of Sleep, inspired by the poetry of Kathleen Raine, offer a more intimate contrast, while Songs of Eden, an instrumental suite, reflects on similar ideas in distilled form. Performed under Michael Waldron, the London Choral Sinfonia brings clarity and commitment to music that speaks with urgency but also restraint. Together, these works present a distinctive and thoughtful new voice in British choral writing.
A powerful meditation on grief, resilience, and the human spirit, Arirang marks the debut album of Korean-Canadian cellist Daniel Hamin Go. Drawing on music from across six centuries, the program interweaves works by Marin Marais, Caroline Shaw, Ernest Bloch, Franz Schubert, Claude Debussy, and newly commissioned pieces by Anna Pidgorna and Iman Habibi. Each piece speaks to universal experiences of sorrow and fortitude-from Marais's contemplative Les Voix Humaines, to Habibi's poignant Blood Moon, written in memory of Mahsa Amini, and Pidgorna's Grief Cycles, inspired by the Ukrainian lament Plyve Kacha Po Tysyni. At it's heart is the Korean folk song Arirang-a centuries-old melody of love and lament that becomes a recurring, evolving thread throughout the album. Composed and arranged by Taran Plamondon and Daniel Hamin Go, the final track transforms this cultural anthem into a moment of catharsis-a musical exhale that carries generations of pain towards light. For Daniel Hamin Go, Arirang is more than a debut-it is a statement of purpose, a present-day prayer for compassion, hope, and unity. Go's playing is rich in nuance, and his artistic vision is both deeply personal and universally relevant, honoring the past while speaking urgently to our times.
Formed in Israel almost three decades ago and now based in the United States, the Ariel Quartet has earned international acclaim for performances that combine bold interpretive vision with exceptional technical mastery. This second volume in their complete Beethoven cycle focuses on the composer's heroic middle period, featuring the three expansive Razumovsky Quartets Op.59, the noble Harp Quartet Op.74, and the intense, compact Serioso Quartet Op.95. Written between 1806 and 1810, these works mark a decisive break from Classical models, embracing structural innovation, contrapuntal richness, and moments of profound lyricism. From the grandeur of the Op.59 set, with it's Russian folk melodies, to the lyrical intimacy of the Harp and the concentrated drama of the Serioso, the Ariel Quartet brings a rare combination of insight, energy, and unity born of over 25 years of shared music-making. Recorded by Grammy Award-winning producer Jesse Lewis, this release captures both the scale and the intimacy of Beethoven's vision, offering a compelling portrait of a composer at the height of his creative powers.
The London Choral Sinfonia marks it's 10th anniversary with On Christmas Night, a festive collection of classic carols in vivid new orchestrations. Featuring soprano Emma Bell and young star treble Malakai Bayoh, the album blends favorites such as "Silent Night," "Walking in the Air," "O Holy Night," and "In the Bleak Midwinter" with world-premiere arrangements and sparkling new works. This is a recording that captures the spirit of Christmas with freshness and warmth.
Vortex introduces a bold new chapter for the oboe and English horn, instruments too often overlooked as chamber soloists. Oboist Ari Cohen Mann, praised for their "brilliant virtuosity" (The Whole Note), joins pianist Benjamin Smith, guitarist Daniel Ramjattan, and composer-pianist Kevin Day in a program spanning wit, lyricism, turbulence, and introspection. Vortex introduces a bold new chapter for the oboe and English horn, instruments too often overlooked as chamber soloists. The journey begins with Stravinsky's Pulcinella-here newly transcribed for oboe and piano by Cohen Mann and Cornelia Sommer-where Baroque elegance collides with Stravinsky's tongue-in-cheek neoclassicism. From there, Jennifer Higdon's poignant Aria leads into the album's title track, Kevin Day's electrifying VORTEX, premiered to a standing ovation at the International Double Reed Society Conference. Works by Rodney Sharman (Famous Last Words), Jean Coulthard (The Enchanted Island), and C. Tyler Nickel (English Horn Sonata) reveal the expressive depth and modern versatility of the English horn, while Jocelyn Morlock's Verdigris, arranged for oboe and guitar, offers a gentle closing meditation. Vortex celebrates the oboe and English horn as instruments of colour, drama, and lyricism-capable of anchoring an entire sonic world.
Mosaic is a debut album defined by freedom of approach: a program for saxophone that moves beyond genre and convention, revealing the instrument's full expressive range. Classical works sit alongside jazz and Latin repertoire, creating a contemporary sound world and giving new life to the classical canonical repertoire. At it's centre, Fernande Decruck's Sonata in C-sharp is heard in dialogue with music by Ravel, Piazzolla, Gershwin, Erroll Garner and McCoy Tyner, while works by Alvaro Carrillo and Joao Donato highlight a strong Central and South American thread. Short interludes-improvised, transitional fragments-link the program, guiding it towards an increasingly open and uninhibited close. Taken as a whole, Mosaic is a curated selection of works which reflects the many strands of Salvador Flores's musical life-his background, influences and collaborations-assembled into a single artistic statement.
In the second volume of his complete Mozart piano sonata cycle, Jae-Hyuck Cho continues his exploration of Mozart's keyboard writing as a living, singing voice. Four sonatas trace a journey from warmth and intimacy to outward brilliance, revealing the composer's remarkable gift for dialogue and character. From the graceful charm of the Sonata in B-flat major, K.281 to the broader expressive range of the Sonata in F major, K.332, the programme moves through the poised intimacy of K.282 before concluding with the theatrical sparkle of the Sonata in C major, K.309. Part of a five-volume series for Orchid Classics, Cho's interpretations emphasise clarity and vocal phrasing, reflecting the operatic spirit at the heart of Mozart's keyboard writing.
