The most fun part of my job is figuring out what to play live. There's an infinite choice of immense, immortal music and I always try and design concert programs a bit like a set list for the audience. For this compilation (of my personal recordings from the last six years) I wanted to carry on in that vein and so I've made it a mix tape - these are the pieces that come up in my head unwarranted at 4am to get me through another rotten night of insomnia. These are the ones that always give me hope and a reason to hang on in there - because if music like this can exist then there is simply no question that the good outweighs the bad. They are my inside tracks. James Rhodes, 2015

A lasting love affair with the clarinet amongst composers from the dawn until the dusk of the Romantic era (i.e. from Schubert to Strauss) is the key takeaway of this Signum release. In recognition, a trio of leading British soloists - clarinetist Julian Bliss, soprano Ailish Tynan and pianist Christopher Glynn - perform a sumptuous selection of the era's chamber music by Brahms, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann and Richard Strauss. The program is centered around Schubert's iconic The Shepherd on the Rock, virtually the final complete work that Schubert composed before his tragic death in 1828, age 31.

This new and highly-anticipated release of three symphonies of Franz Joseph Haydn follows the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Rebecca Miller's acclaimed recording of the works of CPE Bach with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment: "Self-critical perspective is clearly not a problem for these artists... The unfurling description of a lover's kisses permit all kinds of glorious opportunities for the singers' seemingly telepathic understanding for chiaroscuro, impeccable tuning and innate grammatical sense" (Gramophone, Editor's Choice, May 2015)

Described as “phenomenal” (The Times) and “devastatingly beautiful” (Gramophone Magazine), the BBC Music Magazine Award award-winning choir Tenebrae, under the direction of Nigel Short, one of the world’s finest vocal ensembles renowned for its passion and precision return to disc on Signum with a sumptuous album of Carols, Hymns and other celebratory works for Christmas. Among the composers to feature on this disc are John Gardner, Peter Warlock, Philip Ledger and Arnold Bax, A singer of great acclaim, Nigel Short was a member of the world-renowned vocal ensemble The King’s Singers from 1994–2000. Upon leaving the group, he formed Tenebrae, a virtuosic choir that embraced his dedication to passion and precision.

REVIEW:

If you’re looking for a collection of Christmas music that includes a lot of pieces you don’t often hear, don’t overlook this outstanding release. Lovers of choral music will need no introduction to Tenebrae, a superb mixed chorus of around 16. This is their third album of Christmas music, and it is the most interesting of the three.

– American Record Guide

For his latest solo album in a growing catalog of increasingly critically praised recordings for Signum Classics, Alessio Bax returns with a program of rich and evocative works for piano by Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Scriabin. The Italian-born, NYC-based pianist Alessio Bax creates “a ravishing listening experience” with his lyrical playing, insightful interpretations, and dazzling facility. “His playing quivers with an almost hypnotic intensity,” says Gramophone magazine, leading to what Dallas Morning News calls “an out-of-body experience.” “…a pianist of refreshing depth.” (International Piano) Alessio Bax plays Beethoven, released in 2014, was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice: “'Even when compared to legendary performances of this sonata (Kempff, Richter, Gilels, Brendel, etc), this performance stands its ground in music to test the technique and intellect of even the greatest pianists.”

11-year-old Alice lives in the not terribly exciting town of Grimthorpe. On a boring Wednesday in the summer holidays Alice’s family, wandering around town, gets caught in a downpour. They rush into the nearest shelter, which turns out to be a pet shop – much to Alice’s parents’ delight. Alice is lost in a daydream of exotic holidays... Suddenly she is jolted out of her reverie by one of the animals – a white rabbit – who starts talking to her... Opera Holland Park’s production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a family opera by composer Will Todd and librettist Maggie Gottlieb, comes to CD for the first time after two critically praised runs in 2013 and 2014.

Harpsichordist Jane Chapman explores The Oriental Miscellany – William Hamilton Bird’s 1789 collection and arrangement of Hindustani airs for harpsichord. Bird’s collection, the first ever publication of Indian music notated for Western instruments, also features his own Sonata, incorporating original Indian tunes with flute accompaniment (here performed by baroque flautist Yu-Wei Hu). “… one of Britain's most distinguished classical harpsichordists, with a repertoire that stretches from early music to contemporary avant-garde…a rule breaker.” (WSJ)

Since 1727, J.S. Bach's "Great Passion" has gripped the hearts and uplifted the minds of audiences all over the globe. Nearly three centuries after its premiere, the work has lost none of its power to evoke feelings of compassion for all those who suffer. Its mix of urgent storytelling, meditative arias, and mighty choruses sets St Matthew's account of Christ's betrayal, trial, and execution eloquently and emotionally.

Over the past 40 years, the AAM has made over 300 recordings of Baroque and Classical music, winning Brit and Gramophone Awards along the way. Remarkably, this is their first recording of the St. Matthew Passion. With a superlative cast including James Gilchrist, Sarah Connolly, Thomas Hobbs, Elizabeth Watts, Christopher Maltman, and Matthew Rose, and directed by Richard Egarr, this is a landmark project.

• The Temple Church Choir gives the world premiere recording of Nico Muhly's Our Present Charter - a brand new fourmovement work commissioned by the choir to celebrate 800 years since the sealing of the Magna Carta. • Directed by Roger Sayer and featuring organist Greg Morris, the recording also features choral works by Parry, Vaughan Williams, Walton, Bairstow, Tavener and Haydn. • The Temple Church Choir, founded 1841, consists of eighteen boy choristers and twelve professional choirmen. • It is still considered to be one of the finest choirs in London, a reputation it quickly gained after it's founding. • The American composer Nico Muhly (b. 1981) received his Masters in Music from the Juilliard School where he studied under Christopher Rouse and John Corigliano. • He also spent several years working for Phillip Glass as a MIDI programmer and editor. • His wide scope of work for soloists, ensembles, and organizations covers multiple genres, including music for film, opera, choral, chamber, orchestral, vocal and electronic forces in solo or combinations there of.

The King’s Singers explore the folk songs and melodies of the world in a new program entitled Postcards. In their own words: “In our travels we have amassed a wonderful collection of folksongs and popular songs from numerous countries, many of which we use as encores when we visit. The influences and sources are extraordinarily far-ranging, and each song has its own local characteristics. To celebrate the diversity of music that we perform and the numerous countries we visit each concert season, we have recorded an album of some of our favorite folksongs from around the world.” One of the world's most celebrated vocal ensembles, The King's Singers have a packed schedule of concerts, recordings, media and education work that spans the globe. Instantly recognizable for their spot-on intonation, impeccable vocal blend, flawless articulation of the text and incisive timing, they are also consummate entertainers: a class act with a delightfully British wit.

If you happened to see Daniel Barenboim’s 2003 Beethoven master classes on DVD, you might remember an unusually poised young pianist, Alessio Bax, who chose the “Hammerklavier” sonata’s daunting final movement. Fast-forward 11 years to Bax’s recording of the complete work, coupled with the composer’s ubiquitous “Moonlight” sonata. Bax might not take the “Hammerklavier” Allegro at Beethoven’s admittedly optimistic metronome marking, but the hurling momentum, lean yet nuanced textures, and astute ear for voice leading (the amazingly well contoured fughetta, for instance) convey both structure and kinetic energy. Also note Bax’s explosive build-up of the upward alternating broken fifths and sixths leading into the recapitulation, complete with the controversial “misprint masterstroke” Urtext A-sharp (played by Schnabel and Arrau) rather than the more logical yet less quirky A-natural (Brendel and Kempff).

The brisk, appropriately sardonic Scherzo features stinging offbeat accents and a ferocious upward F major scale buttoning the Trio. When I played the Adagio sostenuto for my college piano teacher, he constantly admonished me to “put some beef on that left hand.” I pass that advice down to Alessio! While he certainly sustains his slow basic tempo with the utmost in expressive economy, he does tend to uniformly voice his slow-moving chords, with the top melody line to the fore. Bax brilliantly characterizes the Largo’s madcap mood swings and broken chord transition into the Fugue, while the Fugue itself is a knockout: brisk, clear, clean, and jazzy as hell.

Bax sets an ideal and flexible pace for the “Moonlight” sonata’s iconic Adagio sostenuto, which he plays gorgeously. A few of the Allegretto’s clipped phrase endings and teensy tenutos strike me as what one of my British colleagues describes as “a mite twee.” However, Bax’s rhythmic discipline, focused articulation, and sharp attention to dynamics in the Presto agitato finale make the performance sound faster than it actually is.

Under Bax’s virtuosic fingers, the Chorus of the Dervishes whirls with Lisztian abandon. On the other hand, his overly fast and lightweight treatment of the Turkish March lacks the thrust and force of Beethoven’s original orchestral version, not to mention the once-popular Anton Rubinstein transcription. Reservations aside, this release adds up to an impressive achievement for which Bax should be proud.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Lorin Maazel and the Philharmonia Orchestra perform Mahler’s Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. This four-disc box is the second set in a series that will encompass Mahler’s Nine Symphonies, featuring live orchestral recordings from London’s Royal Festival Hall of Maazel and the Philharmonia’s much-lauded Mahler Cycle.

"• The AAM celebrates its 40thanniversary year with this landmark new recording of Bach's St. John Passion. • The second release on the newly launched AAM label. • Features a cast of superb soloists. • Rare recording of the work's first version, dating from 1724. • Further content available online. • “No better team could be assembled anywhere...Pity, terror, consolation...joy” - The Ark Desk (March 2013) reviewing a concert performance of this work with this same cast. "

• “Into the Ravine” is the first release on Signum from the Carducci Quartet, one of the UK’s most dynamic string quartets. • The quartet is joined by oboist Nicholas Daniel for three world premieres from well-established UK composers, and all written specially for them. • The Carducci quartet run their own festival and recording label, and are international competetion winners.

As the centenary of the Great War approaches, the choir of Jesus College Cambridge presents a new program of works titled War & Peace, a beautiful and moving collection of choral works that are united in various ways by the experiences and impact of war.