This album comprises eight compositions for diverse media spanning more than forty years. Most of these pieces were composed for the musicians who performed them. Several pieces reflect my experiences in Japan over sixty years, although only one composition uses an actual Japanese instrument. David Loeb

Born in Verona in 1998, Giovanni Bertolazzi won the silver medal at the 2021 Liszt Piano Competition in Budapest, previous editions of which launched the careers of piano legends such as Annie Fischer and Dino Ciani. He has already made an enthusiastically received Liszt albums, and has established his credentials as a Liszt interpreter of rare insight and prodigious technique. On this album, his Piano Classics debut, Bertolazzi presents some of the most technically demanding and yet expressively wide-ranging works in the composer's vast output. Every serious Lisztian has measured up to the Paganini Etudes in the past, and Bertolazzi now joins their number. Within the course of the intricately interlinked six etudes of the Paganini cycle, we move from the Bachian, arpeggiated flourishes of the opening Tremolo, to the witty and allusive gestures of 'Octaves', and then the notoriously hair-raising leaps of 'La Campanella'. In these works, sublime virtuosity is always placed at the service of imagination, visual and literary almost as much as strictly musical. By the time Liszt had come to revise his earlier, even more testing version of the Paganini Etudes, finalising them in 1851 in the form familiar to us today, he had produced several more 'Concert Etudes', and the profound melancholy which afflicted his later years had begun to show through in a piece such as 'Un sospiro'. Liszt virtually invented the tone-poem or tone-painting as a musical genre, whether on the canvases of piano or orchestra. In Waldesrauschen we hear the activity of the forest - the fluttering of foliage, chirping of birds and so on - but even more we are transported into the mind of one who feels the crunch of every branch underfoot, fulfilling Beethoven's claim for his Pastoral Symphony that it was 'more the expression of feeling than tone-painting'. In the lesser-known 'Grande etude de perfectionnement', titled 'Ab irato', we sense the depths of Liszt's religious feeling, and the full measure of a profoundly Romantic sense of the scale between man and God, between heaven and hell, all within less than three minutes. The dryly entitled 'Concert Etudes' of Liszt thus plunge the listener into remarkably contrasting inner worlds.

Ivan Fischer and Channel Classics release a recording of Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Recorded live in October 2025 at the spectacular Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, this is the first volume of a Mozart trilogy, with The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro to follow in the coming years. With a dream duo (Andre Schuen as Don Giovanni and Luca Pisaroni as Leporello) and a first-rate cast, Ivan Fischer presents his vision of Mozart's masterpiece: 'In a nutshell the first two bars of this opera describe the story: the fight between order and rebellion. The basses repeat their constant bottom note three times, finally overpowering the revolutionary syncopations of the violins. The energetic, defiant violin notes represent Don Giovanni, the man, who doesn't accept any rules, who doesn't know limits. He follows his own instincts, uses and misuses his power, his wealth, his servant, to follow one goal only: his passion. On this journey he kills, he hurts, damages others, without any remorse or even second thoughts. He is perfectly free, happy, liberated from inner doubts and outer control, from all the regulations of what we call morality.'

Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739) was an Italian composer, writer, and magistrate of the late Baroque period. Born in Venice into a noble family, Marcello was expected to pursue a career in public service rather than music. Nevertheless, he received an excellent musical education and developed into one of the most respected composers of his time. Although he held various governmental positions in the Republic of Venice and later served as a governor in cities such as Pola and Brescia, Marcello remained deeply devoted to music throughout his life. Marcello is particularly known for his collection Estro Poetico-Armonico (Poetic-Harmonic Inspiration), published between 1724 and 1727. This monumental work consists of musical settings of the first fifty Psalms, based on Italian poetic paraphrases by the writer Girolamo Ascanio Giustiniani. The collection was highly admired across Europe because of it's expressive style and it's blending of sacred tradition with contemporary musical language. Marcello combined elements of Gregorian chant, Baroque harmony, and operatic expressiveness, creating works that were both devotional and dramatically vivid. One of the pieces from this collection is Psalm XVII a tres, written for three voices and basso continuo. The term a tres indicates that the work is composed for three vocal parts, often performed by combinations such as soprano, alto, and bass. In this psalm setting, Marcello demonstrates his ability to write clear yet expressive vocal lines. Each voice contributes to a transparent polyphonic texture, where the text remains understandable while the music retains harmonic richness. The composition reflects the emotional depth of the psalm text, which expresses a plea for divine justice and protection. Marcello emphasizes these themes through expressive melodic contours and carefully shaped phrasing. Performed by Ensemble Salomone Rossi, conducted by Lydia Cevidalli, with an instrumental ensemble consisting of violin, cello, double bass, violone, theorbo and harpsichord, playing together with the Odhecaton vocal ensemble.

The Landscape of Clara Schumann unfolds like a finely drawn musical panorama: a recording that combines historical resonances, personal perspectives, and contemporary sound to create a multi-layered overall picture. Pianist Heike-Angela Moser - a descendant of Clara Schumann- dedicates herself here in a special way to the legacy of her ancestor; not in the form of a nostalgic retrospective, but as a lively, artistic exploration of origins and the future. A central element of this recording is the 1859 Schiedmayer fortepiano, whose historical character and fine timbre allow the repertoire to shine with a rarely heard authenticity. The Landscape of Clara Schumann is a poetic journey of sound: a dialogue between generations, between memory and renewal, between the historical breath of an instrument and the living voice of it's contemporary interpreter.

Sopranos Susan Narucki and Kirsten Ashley Wiest team up for an illuminating collection of music for two voices by a range of composers. Featuring music by Kaija Saariaho, Marti Epstein, Alba Potes, Jeffrey Holmes, Rozalie Hirs, and Pascal Dusapin, the duo explores a wide section of techniques and aesthetics that are the focus of composition today through the lens of the intimate vocal chamber format.

This album is titled 'Sir!' because it is dedicated to the famous Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by the English composer Sir Edward Elgar. But also because Astrig Siranossian plays Sir John Barbirolli's cello, a magnificent instrument by Gennaro Gagliano from 1756, on loan from the Henrot Fund for the Promotion of Young French Chamber Musicians. Barbirolli was a passionate advocate of Elgar's music, but also of Bruch's, whose Kol Nidrei Astrig has recorded-'one of the most beautiful works ever written for the cello,' says the cellist, who is accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Francois-Xavier Roth. Also on the program, this time with her friend Nathanael Gouin at the piano, is the sonata by Britten, who declined the title of 'Sir' but was a Lord

For over four decades, Mogens Christensen (b. 1955) has crafted a unique musical world where the fluidity of dreams meets an aphoristic, crystalline concision. His works often draw on tangible inspirations - natural phenomena, Nordic myths, or literary echoes - guiding the listener through landscapes of intense atmospheric depth. From the 'friendly apparitions' of "Nordic Summer Ghosts" to the subterranean rivers of the monumental "Flumina mortis," this release showcases a composer who perfectly balances Arcadian poetry with a modern, functional clarity.

The opulent Second Symphony of Sergei Rachmaninoff in the compelling guise of a piano concerto: the only available recording, now available as a single CD. Rachmaninoff achieved a breakthrough, both for himself and in the genre of the Russian symphony, with the completion of the Second in 1908. This is music of a positively Brucknerian scale and paragraphing which needs space and breadth to unfold and climax. However, the symphony gained popularity through heavily cut performances and recordings, and it was only in 1973, with the recordings conducted by Ormandy and Previn, that the strength of the original, uncut Second revealed itself to new audiences. Rachmaninoff himself was hardly averse to making radical cuts and alterations both to his own music and the scores of his predecessors. Thus Alexander Warenberg followed suit in a long and distinguished Romantic tradition, when he transformed the symphony into a piano concerto. As completed in 2007, and recorded shortly afterwards by these musicians, this concerto can be compared to a cinematic adaptation of a great novel, as Ates Orga remarks in his booklet essay, 'with the main personalities, scenes and action retained, but subsidiary figures, incidents and detail omitted.' Thus the symphony's four movements are ingeniously condensed into the concerto's conventional three, with the central slow movement enclosing both the Symphony's Adagio, with it's unforgettably lugubrious opening clarinet melody, and the scherzo, as an interlude. With the symphonic argument shared between soloist and orchestra, Warenberg achieves a remarkably smooth idiomatic transition between the genres. The performance itself is driven and passionate in the best Rachmaninoff tradition, as the work of musicians entirely at home in the composer's world. Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy has made many fine recordings for Piano Classics, attracting lavish critical praise. 'Schmitt-Leonardy's collection of the three Chopin piano sonatas is the best single-disc version I have ever heard' (Fanfare). On his album of Schumann, the Etudes symphoniques 'have a formal integrity and sense of connectedness often missing in the hands of lesser artists' (Fanfare).

This set is the second instalment of an ambitious project: the recording of the complete codex of Las Huelgas, one of the most important sources of music of the High Middle Ages, an anthology of songs from the 13th century representative of the Ars Antiqua. The manuscript was written in the Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria la Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos, with the authorisation of Alfonso VIII King of Castile. The manuscript contains 45 monophonic pieces (20 sequences, 5 conductus, 10 Benedicamus tropes) and 141 polyphonic compositions. Most of the music dates from the late 13th century, with some music from the first half of the 13th century (Notre Dame repertory), and a few later additions from the first quarter of the 14th century. Many of the pieces are not found in any other manuscripts. This second volume contains two CDs with performances by the Gruppo Vocale Armoniosoincanto and the Gruppo Vocale Garda Trentino. We find two tonally different types of performance: the young voices of Garda Trentino offer a luminosity and rhythmic precision, always expressive and communicative. Armoniosoincanto presents a more reflective and controlled interpretation, strongly linked to the texts. The instrumental ensemble includes medieval harp and portative organ.

These first recordings galore on a comprehensive survey of a major 20th-century Ukrainian composer. Born in Kiev in 1925, Igor Shamo studied with the elder statesman of modern Ukrainian art music, Boris Lyatoshinsky. Schumann, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov were the giants of the past who seized the young Shamo's attention, and traces of their impassioned, lyrically centred idioms may be discerned throughout the early works on CD1 of this new recording such as the Ukrainian Suite, Classical Suite and Shamo's own take on Pictures at an Exhibition in his suite of Pictures by Russian Painters. The second CD is occupied by two more substantial cycles, of 12 Preludes from 1962 and six impressionistic Aquarelles from a decade later - both the appreciation and execution of painting was important to Shamo throughout his life. The final CD gathers up piano pieces throughout Shamo's career, from the Marche fantastique, which so impressed the professors of the Kiev Conservatoire when the composer elected at the last minute to play it for his entrance exam, to three dances composed in 1972 and inspired by the folk culture of nearby Soviet republics, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. A counterpoint to their uncomplicated charms may be found in the three Songs of Friendship from 1954, in which Shamo treats melodies from Poland, Romania and what was then Czechoslovakia. Though jazz and minimalist techniques periodically surface in Shamo's music, it bears the stamp of it's Soviet times in it's generally sunny character and clearly laid-out forms - though the serenity of the Ninth Prelude is answered by the machine-gun-fire Tenth, and Bartok casts a shadow over this music almost as often as Prokofiev. Dmitri Tchesnokov is, like Shamo, a native of Kiev, born in 1982 and long resident in France, where he pursues a career as both composer and pianist, as well as founding a directing a well-established festival of contemporary piano music in Paris. - Igor Shamo (1925-1982) was born in Kiev, Ukraine, where his composition teacher at the national Conservatory was the famous composer Boris Lyatoshinsky. Attached to his home land he declined an invitation to move to Moscow, and he stayed the rest of his life in his native Kiev, where he became a highly respected composer and teacher. - Shamo wrote orchestral works, chamber music, songs and works for film and theatre. His piano works however form the core of his oeuvre. His musical language is tonal and based on classical principles (his favourite composer was J.S. Bach). The melodies have a strong narrative character, the harmonies are based on classical and popular modes, enriched by chromaticism and jazz. All his works are rooted in the rich folklore of his native country Ukraine, the moods alternating between melancholic sadness and gloom and dance-inspired frenzy. - Dimitri Tchesnokov is an excellent pianist and an important composers himself as well. His works are increasingly noted, especially his haunting and mystical choral works. He wrote the extensive liner notes for this set himself, in English and French.

Published in 1739, Johann Sebastian Bach's Dritter Teil der Clavierubung (Third Part of the Keyboard Practice) is one of the most profound monuments of organ literature. Conceived as a theological and musical summa, this cycle of chorale preludes framed by a majestic Prelude and Fugue reflects Bach's deep Lutheran faith and his consummate mastery of counterpoint. Intended 'for amateurs and especially for connoisseurs for the recreation of the spirit,' it invites us into a world where intellect and devotion meet in perfect harmony. This collection is not merely a set of organ pieces-it is a spiritual architecture in sound. Every element, from it's opening tri-thematic Prelude to it's closing five-voice Fugue, is imbued with symbolism, theological meaning, and artistic grandeur. For Bach, music was never just ornament; it was a language of faith, capable of expressing the mysteries of doctrine with clarity and beauty. Bach's models for this work were inspired from two great traditions: Italian Liturgical Collections - Above all, Girolamo Frescobaldi's Fiori Musicali (1635), which provided organ music for the Catholic Mass. Frescobaldi's influence is evident in the structural parallels: preludes before the service, organ verses alternating with chant, and pieces for specific liturgical moments. The other influence is the French Baroque Livres d'Orgue - Especially Nicolas de Grigny's Premier Livre d'Orgue (1699), which Bach copied in his youth, and Francois Couperin's organ masses. These works introduced Bach to the elegance of French ornamentation, the grandeur of the plein jeu, and the expressive possibilities of contrasting registrations. Bach absorbed these influences and reimagined them within the Lutheran framework, creating a cycle that parallels the structure of the Mass but substitutes chorales central to Reformed doctrine. In doing so, he forged a synthesis of Italian rhetorical expressiveness, French coloristic refinement, and German contrapuntal rigor. Played with intense devotion and understanding by Sergio Vartolo. Sergio Vartolo is an Italian organist, harpsichordist, and conductor known for his expertise in early music, especially the works of Baroque composers. Born in Bologna in 1944, he studied organ, composition, and musicology, developing a deep interest in historically informed performance. Vartolo has performed widely across Europe and recorded extensively, bringing renewed attention to lesser-known Italian composers. His interpretations combine scholarly research with expressive musicianship, making him an influential figure in the early music movement.

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) was a German composer and virtuoso of the viola da gamba, remembered as one of the last great exponents of the instrument. Born in Kothen, he was the son of Christian Ferdinand Abel, a musician in the court orchestra once directed by J.S. Bach. Abel's early exposure to music within this distinguished environment shaped his refined style and command of counterpoint, while his career later flourished in London, where he became a prominent figure in the city's cultural life. Abel is best known for his partnership with Johann Christian Bach in organizing the famous Bach-Abel Concerts (1765-1781), the first subscription concerts in London, which greatly influenced the city's musical culture. These gatherings introduced audiences to both established and contemporary works, laying foundations for the public concert tradition. Abel's music reflects the elegance and clarity of the galant style, bridging the late Baroque and early Classical periods. His compositions emphasize lyrical melody, balanced phrasing, and transparent textures, qualities that made them appealing to both connoisseurs and amateur performers. This 3CD set offers reissues of successful Brilliant Classics recordings with works by Abel: works for flute and orchestra, a symphony, concertos for harpsichord, viola da gamba and orchestra, trio sonatas and sonatas for viola da gamba and B.C. Performers include Nordic Affect (Georgia Brown), La Spagna Baroque Orchestra (Alejandro Marias) and viola da gamba player Marco Casonato and Massimo Marchese (Theorbo). 'Affectionate explorations of seldom performed pieces by mid-18th century composer' (BBC Music Magazine about Nordic Affect).

With Volume 22, the Leipzig Quartet brings their acclaimed complete recording of Joseph Haydn's quartets to a decisive and resonant close. This final installment crowns a project of extraordinary scope and artistic consistency, with Op. 76 revealing Haydn at his most expansive and imaginative. The result feels less like an ending than a culmination of decades of interpretative insight into the classical quartet repertoire.

Gianandrea Noseda is clearly one of those conductors who 'are equally at home in both genres', as the 'Neue Zurcher Zeitung' put it in 2021 on the occasion of his debut as General Music Director at Zurich Opera House. 'In hindsight, one cannot even judge whether he is the better opera or symphony conductor.' In his concert performances in Zurich, Noseda focused on the works of Johannes Brahms. Following a highly acclaimed performance of the 'German Requiem', he also conducted the Zurich Opera Orchestra in performances of Brahms's symphonies. The four symphonies by Johannes Brahms were completed between 1876 and 1885 and are regarded as milestones in the Romantic orchestral repertoire. Under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda, they were recorded live at the Zurich Opera House during various concerts and can now be heard together on this album.

Don Quixote' and 'Ein Heldenleben' are two large-scale tone-poems that Richard Strauss composed in Munich and Berlin during the final years of the 19th century. Whilst the first work was inspired by Cervantes' tragicomic novel hero, in the second work he effectively stylised himself as a successful (artistic) hero. Similar characters make an appearance in the two other works on this album: Shakespeare's tragic hero 'MacBeth' in an early overture, and another domestic Strauss hero (named 'Stork') in the opera 'Intermezzo', from which four symphonic interludes are featured here. As General Music Director of the Zurich Opera Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda has conducted these compositions by Strauss, some of which feature a huge orchestra. They are now released together on this album.

The Doric String Quartet continues it's cycle of Beethoven quartets with this third volume, featuring a mixture of works from the composer's early, middle, and late periods. Notable for the piano start of each of it's four movements, Op. 18 No. 3 also displays a more even distribution of thematic material among the four instruments than is normal for that time. Op. 59 No. 3 is the last of Beethoven's second set of quartets, dedicated to Count Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to the Viennese court, and also a fine violinist. Op. 74 is famous for the pizzicato, arpeggio passages in the first movement, giving rise to it's nickname - the 'Harp' Quartet. The final two quartets in this CD set, Op. 132 and Op. 135, date from Beethoven's late period. The late quartets are widely acknowledged as some of the most extraordinary music Beethoven wrote. Misunderstood and confusing to their first audiences, they have gone on to inspire countless composers and musicians, and are considered some of the greatest music ever written. As with the previous issues in the series, this double album is sold at two CDs for the price of one.

Soprano Laura Catrani's highly personal journey into the world of solo voice writing continues with a new, singular project. After the widespread acclaim for Vox in Bestia, a Dante-inspired project born in 2021, Vox in femina is now released again by Stradivarius. The album, with the exception of the famous Sequenza III for female voice by Luciano Berio and Stripsody by Cathy Berberian, which respectively open and close the listening experience, brings together a range of pieces by contemporary Italian composers written especially for her. In particular, the album features original works by Leonardo Marino, Alessandro Solbiati, Matteo Franceschini, Federico Gardella, Paolo Marchettini, Fabrizio de Rossi Re, and Daniela Fantechi. A listening journey that suggests new points of interest and becomes a surprising exploration of contemporary production dedicated to vocality, accompanied by the personal interpretation of Laura Catrani, an artist who has undertaken important research and is considered by critics to be a reference voice for chamber music, twentieth-century, and contemporary repertoire.

Joly Braga Santos (1924-88) was one of the most important composers in twentieth-century Portugal. In his early works his fondness for modal harmony, absorbed from the Portuguese masters of the Renaissance, and his busy counterpoint combine to make him sound surprisingly close to such particularly English composers as Vaughan Williams and Moeran. Although his harmonic language became more astringent with time, it retained a burly sense of humour and a powerful charge of energy, often infused with the spirit of Portuguese folk-dance. [Volumes 1-3: TOCC 0207, 0428, 0588]