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.
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.
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.
Eduard Tubin stands among the most significant symphonic voices of the twentieth century, a composer whose music draws deeply on Nordic landscape, folklore and myth while speaking with a powerful modern voice. This recording with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Mihhail Gerts explores the formative years of Tubin's creative life. At it's centre is the Symphony No. 2, "Legendary" (1937), a work that established Tubin's distinctive voice, moving from a mysterious opening through sombre reflection to a fiercely driven finale. Alongside it appears the Suite on Estonian Motifs, his first major orchestral composition, presented here in it's first recording. Completing the program are two early Piano Preludes from 1926, performed by Mihhail Gerts, offering a glimpse of Tubin at the very beginning of his compositional journey. Together these works trace the emergence of a composer who would go on to become one of Estonia's most important musical figures.
Mark Kaplan has long been recognised as one of the world's leading violinists. His career spans decades and a discography of more than forty-five recordings. Here, for the first time on record, he is joined in Brahms's three violin sonatas by his son, pianist David Kaplan, himself an artist of growing international presence and critical acclaim. Brahms's three violin sonatas provide a natural meeting point for this unique collaboration between father and son, shaped by the close and equal dialogue between violin and piano. Together, they trace a path from the inward lyricism of the G major Sonata, Op. 78, through the warmth of the A major, Op. 100, to the darker, more dramatic world of the D minor Sonata, Op. 108, whose finale ranks among Brahms's most powerful chamber works.
Hailed for their "beautifully nuanced performances" (Gramophone Magazine), Camerata Tchaikovsky was founded in 2004 by Yuri Zhislin to bring together soloists and leading chamber musicians, touring worldwide and recording to great critical acclaim. Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante and Strauss's Metamorphosen are both works of remarkable emotional depth, heard here in chamber form revealing an entirely different perspective. The Camerata Tchaikovsky continue their long-term recording partnership with Orchid by exploring these masterpieces through the intimate sound of the string septet. At the center of the album is Yuri Zhislin's new transcription of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, created from a desire to preserve the grandeur and expressive richness of the original while allowing for the immediacy of chamber music. Alongside it sits Rudolf Leopold's striking septet realisation of Strauss's Metamorphosen, based on the composer's earliest conception of the work and illuminating it's haunting counterpoint and emotional intensity.
Trio Barclay present Beyond The Pacific, an album of contemporary works for piano trio that sits at the intersection of chamber music excellence and a 21st-century American musical experience. The album opens with a cathartic journey: the Piano Trio No. 1 of Sheridan Seyfried. Energetic and heartfelt in equal measure, the range of tones and color on display throughout the album is immediately apparent. Elsewhere, "Orcas Island: The Rose of the San Juan Islands" by John Wineglass heightens the imagery, depicting a stunning portrait of the seascapes of the Pacific Northwest. Further down the Western coastline, Michael Fine's "California" delights in the fascinating multiculturalism of the Golden State, the third of three works showcased fittingly by three of California's foremost chamber musicians. Trio Barclay present these thought-provoking works with their usual flair and vigour. Having fostered a reputation as an ensemble of big musical personalities who create dynamic and exciting musical experiences across North America and beyond, this album is a moving and nostalgic return home, underscored by three gems of contemporary music.
At the heart of this new album from renowned British pianist Charles Owen stand two towering masterpieces: Liszt's Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen and Franck's Prelude, Choral et Fugue - works that chart spiritual journeys through grief, doubt and despair toward radiant, redemptive hope. Each embodies the essence of de Profundis - a rising from the depths, a cry of the soul yearning for transcendence. Liszt and Franck, so different in temperament yet united by deep mutual admiration and shared faith, drew profound inspiration from their Catholic spirituality. Where Liszt's unbridled Romanticism blazes with drama and color, Franck's introspection glows with quiet devotion; both speak to the indomitable human spirit. Balancing such intensity are Liszt's visions of nature in the Deux Legendes and Les jeux d'eaux a la Villa d'Este: birdsong, flowing water, and the shimmer of divine light. His piano writing moves from the lightest suspension of sound to thunderous resonance, creating musical landscapes of awe and serenity. Charles Owen brings this immensely personal recording to life with luminous clarity and poetic insight, revealing music of both earthly struggle and eternal hope.
Eugene Ysaye - "the King of the Violin" - was one of the most influential figures in the history of string playing. A performer of dazzling brilliance and expressive depth, Ysaye transformed violin technique into a language of pure emotion, inspiring composers from Franck and Saint-Saens to Debussy and Chausson, while his own music captures that same fusion of virtuosity and soul. This new album brings together some of Ysaye's most evocative and rarely heard works -from the youthful Grande valse de concert and poetic Reve d'enfant to the passionate Poeme elegiaque, the tender Amitie, and the rhapsodic Extase. In the hands of award-winning artists Natalia Lomeiko, Yuri Zhislin, and Ivan Martin, the music reveals Ysaye's extraordinary ability to merge Romantic lyricism with bold harmonic imagination. A journey through nostalgia, friendship, ecstasy, and reflection, this new album of Ysaye's works reveals the heart of a composer whose music, like his playing, was devoted to expression over showmanship.
Defiance is sound against silence - fragile, eruptive, unbound. Finnish saxophonist-composer Esa Pietila presents his most personal solo statement to date: eight original works, eight unfolding journeys - spheres of resonance, waves of liberation, fire, mist, and crystalline edges. Drawing on contemporary classical, avant-garde and free-jazz vocabularies, Pietila creates a cycle of contrasting sound worlds - from the circular resonances of Sphere and the crystalline brilliance of Diamond Jor to the eruptive intensity of Fire and the spacious lyricism of Colours of Liberation. Recorded in the extraordinary and resonant acoustics of the medieval Church of St. Lawrence in Finland, Defiance captures the full breadth of Pietila's sound: whispering, calling, resisting, expanding beyond boundaries. It is both a manifesto of freedom and a meditation on breath, silence, and the human voice within one instrument.
Life Stories brings together soprano Claire Booth and pianist Jams Coleman in a vibrant program exploring the borderland between classical song and cabaret. At it's center is Zoe Martlew's Hotel Babylon, a contemporary cycle written for Booth: seven sharply drawn character studies that trace a playful yet unsettling journey through temptation, vice and redemption. Blending cabaret, expressionism, tango and baroque echoes, Martlew's music creates a modern counterpart to Schoenberg's Brettl-Lieder, reimagined for the 21st century. Surrounding this new work is a constellation of composers who also navigate the everyday and the existential through song. Gershwin's The Man I Love and I Got Rhythm offer melodic clarity and bittersweet simplicity; Eisler's Hollywooder Liederbuch excerpts deliver intimate, politically charged reflections from the composer's American exile; and Poulenc's Banalites reveals profound emotion beneath it's surface wit and elegance. Earl Wild's piano transcriptions of Gershwin bring Romantic virtuosity into dialogue with the album's lyrical core. The program concludes with Thomas Ades' Life Story, a candid, fragmented setting of Tennessee Williams that mirrors the fragile human connections running through the disc. Together, these works form a compelling portrait of storytelling in song-by turns ironic, tender, biting, and deeply humane.
This first volume of Jae-Hyuck Cho's complete Mozart piano sonata cycle reflects the pianist's belief that Mozart's keyboard writing is inseparable from the vocal world of his operas - music that should feel sung, alive, breathing and vividly expressive. Cho approaches these works as dialogues filled with wit, drama and character, seeking not perfection but truth in every phrase. The program begins with the Sonata in C major, K.545, whose apparent simplicity reveals Mozart's precision and elegance. The Fantasia in C minor, K.475, and the Sonata in C minor, K.457, follow as powerful companion works: improvisatory, unpredictable and stormy, yet touched by tenderness. Cho presents them as a single expressive journey, from the Fantasia's restless soliloquy to the Sonata's theatrical sweep, aria-like Adagio and fiercely driven finale. The Sonata in B-flat major, K.333, closes the album with it's lyrical generosity and classical poise - a radiant counterpart to the emotional turbulence of the C-minor pieces. Recorded with Grammy winning producer Michael Fine, this release introduces a cycle shaped by Cho's conviction that Mozart's piano music speaks, laughs and sighs with the freedom and spontaneity of song.
