Ever since his very first disc, released by BIS some thirty years ago, Hakan Hardenberger has earned recognition for his performances of the classical repertory, but also as a pioneer of significant and vituosic new music for the trumpet. Collaborations with composers such as Takemitsu, Part, Henze, and H.K. Gruber have resulted in numerous works, of which the two recorded here are among the more recent. Brett Dean's concerto Dramatis personae is named after the term used for the list of characters in a stage work, and casts the soloist in the role of the ''Hero''. Dean's protagonist is a complex one, however, with traits inspired by comic book super heros as well as the classical flawed heros of literature and legend: ''Soliloquy'', the second movement, is a reference to Hamlet, while Charlie Chaplin's character in Modern Times has inspired the work's finale, ''The Accidental Revolutionary''. If there is a hero in the concerto by Luca Francesconi, it is Miles Davis. In his comment sto the work, Francesconi talks of Davis as ''a musician who transcends all labels'' with ''a delicate, cracked sound'' and a voice which speaks directly to the listener. Hard Pace, the title of Francesconi's work, is an allusion to a difficult journey, but it is also a conflation of the names of the performers for whom it was written: Hardenberger, Antonio Pappano and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra. On the present recording it is the Gothenburg Symphony and conductor John Storgards who provide Hakan Hardenberger with expert support in these demanding and rewarding scores.

As Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach published successive collections of the Kenner und Liebhaber series, he explored new genres and styles. In the second collection he added his idiosyncratic rondos, and in the fourth he included free fantasias. The fifth collection, composed between 1779 and 1784, contains no new genres, but displays more variety in terms of textures and thematic ideas than any of the previous volumes. In fact, Bach’s preoccupation with variation is almost obsessive – it is as if he cannot finish phrases without varying either texture, tonality, rhythmic pulse or dynamics. To the six Sonatas, Rondos and Fantasias that make up the collection, Miklós Spányi adds two independent works. Bach initially composed 17 variations on the folk-like tune Ich schlief, da träumte mir in 1752 (included in Vol. 19 of this series) but returned to it almost twenty years later, publishing seven new variations. Closing the album is another set of variations, now on an original theme, an Arioso sostenuto in A major. Miklós Spányi began his survey of the Kenner und Liebhaber collections on the clavichord but the following releases have featured the tangent piano. And 35 albums into this monumental series, individual volumes are still being warmly greeted, for instance on EarlyMusicReview.com where the reviewer of Volume 32 (BIS-2205) professed to be ‘invariably struck not only by the originality of C. P. E. Bach’s keyboard writing, but also the high level of performance consistently maintained by Miklós Spányi.’

Bach’s secular cantatas, in contrast to his sacred works, were not always intended to be performed for a specific church service. They were frequently commissioned for weddings, funerals, or other occasions. This new release is the sixth volume of Bach’s secular cantatas, and includes Trauerode alongside others. This album is performed by the Bach Collegium Japan.

Classical Music

The second installment of the Batiste Piano Series sees multi-Grammy and Oscar winner Jon Batiste reinterpret Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's most beloved melodies as Black American classical music, infused with influences from jazz, rags, stride, blues and stomps. The result is a vibrant conversation without words - not about genre, but pure expression.

Jon Batiste - "Monk Meditations" On Monk Meditations (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 3), multi-Grammy® and Oscar® winner Jon Batiste expands introspective short form compositions by Thelonious Monk into longer form piano works imbued with classical structure and quiet grandeur. Verve; Classical Crossover.

PUCCINI: TURNADOT

Japanese UHQCD pressing. Heart of Ice is a large-scale orchestral work by legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu, written specifically for the concert hall and performed by the world-renowned London Symphony Orchestra, with release on the prestigious Decca label, presenting a richly emotional and narrative-driven symphonic experience. Part of the Maregnon fictional soundtrack project, a symphonic fantasy series developed with international collaborators under producer and artistic director Thomas Bocker, Uematsu's longtime creative partner, the work is designed as a global concert presentation that fuses orchestral music with storytelling to introduce a new form of musical narrative. Conceived as a symphonic fairy tale based on an original story by acclaimed children's author Frauke Angel, Heart of Ice is told through music and narration, with the English narration performed by Academy Award-winning actress Alicia Vikander, and features a leitmotif-driven structure in which each character is represented by a distinct instrument, creating an immersive, story-centered musical world that will resonate strongly with fans of RPG and cinematic music alike.

MERREGNON: HEART OF ICE

Amsterdam Piano Trio / Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio; Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht This album pairs two works separated by only 17 years, but whose composers seem at first glance to be worlds apart. The coupling of Tchaikovsky's monumental Piano Trio in A minor (1882) with Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht (1899, in it's original scoring for string sextet) reveals a line of musical continuity from the great Russian Romantic to the pioneering Viennese modernist. Verklarte Nacht has itself been transfigured here in a new, never-before-recorded arrangement for piano trio by Henk Guittart, one of the world's leading Schoenberg specialists. This debut recording from the Amsterdam Piano Trio features award-winning Hyperion pianist Andrey Gugnin alongside violinist Anna Lipkind-Mazor and cellist Dmitry Prokofiev.

FRIENDSHIP SURVIVAL GUIDE

VERDI

Sir Stephen Hough's 2026 solo piano album, Stephen Hough's Piano Postcards, explores the world from the perspective of the itinerant pianist sending home musical messages from his voyages. Music from Asia includes "Spring breeze prelude" by Taiwanese composer Deng Yu-Hsien and a piano version of "Aka tombo," a children's song so beloved in Japan that it features in citywide "5-o'clock chimes" across the country. Folk and popular traditions appear in "Cielito lindo" and "Nature boy," while the final group of pieces turns to nature, with works by MacDowell, Schumann and Sinding. Alongside these musical travel diaries, he intersperses new transcriptions of songs from popular films, including arrangements he created for Lang Lang's 'Disney Book' album. This is the first chance Sir Stephen has had to include piano arrangements of songs from Frozen, Coco and Mary Poppins.

OLIVER COATES / HISTORY SOUND - O.S.T Decca presents the soundtrack to the 2025 film, The History of Sound. Composed and produced by cellist Oliver Coates, the 27-track album features traditional American roots music with vocal and musical contributions from folk artist Sam Amidon and lead actors Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor.

'hush' is Chad Lawson's most intimate and understated work to date - a deeply restorative collection of music born from a singular moment of silence at London's legendary Angel Studios. After the final note of the orchestral recording faded, no one in the room moved or spoke, and in that shared stillness Chad discovered both the spirit of the album and it's name. Rather than offering another solution, ritual, or self-improvement tool, hush creates a place to simply be. A refuge at the end of a day that has taken more than it has given. Embracing restraint and honesty, Chad pares each composition down to only what it needs, allowing space, breath, and silence to become part of the music itself. The result is Chad's quietest recording yet. A beautifully immersive listening experience that leaves listeners feeling lighter, renewed, and gently reminded that even the longest nights eventually give way to morning.

SHINE

Sir Anthony's first album released on Decca Classics, Life Is A Dream, brings his passion for classical music to the forefront, presenting a deeply personal collection of original compositions that reflect a lifetime of creativity, imagination, and storytelling. Recorded with the internationally renowned Philharmonia Orchestra, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, and featuring world-class musicians from Argentinian pianist Sergio Tiempo and Venezuelan cellist Gregorio Nieto to the Bach Choir and the Choristers of Winchester Cathedral. The album showcases Sir Anthony's unique musical voice through a series of cinematic, emotional, and richly orchestrated works, offering audiences an intimate window into a creative life that spans decades and disciplines. Life Is A Dream is the culmination of a lifelong artistic journey and a landmark project for Decca Classics, introducing Sir Anthony's music to audiences worldwide and celebrating an extraordinary new chapter in his creative legacy.

POET & THE PIPER

Verve Records: The Sound of America As an independent record producer going back to the early 1940s, Norman Granz started building a personal network of record companies - disc by disc, artist by artist, innovation by innovation - that grew into a tsunami by the time he sold Verve Records at the end of 1960. It remains a feat unmatched to this day. This 2-CD set celebrates the fascinating spectrum of recordings made during the Norman Granz era of Verve Records. It includes vocal tracks by Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday; Charlie Parker with strings; a raucous live jam session; Beatnik poetry by Jack Kerouac and stand-up comedy. Verve Label Group; Verve; Jazz; Catalog

SCHUMANN: ZWIELICHT

HOMAGE TO HEIFETZ

Rafal Blechacz returns with a compelling new Deutsche Grammophon album centered on the expressive power of C minor. Together with the Dresdner Philharmonie under Kent Nagano, he presents Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491 and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 - two landmark works that reveal the dramatic, introspective and visionary possibilities of the piano concerto. The program is completed by Beethoven's 32 Variations in C Minor, WoO 80, placing Blechacz both in dialog with orchestra and alone at the keyboard. The album offers a focused, repertoire-driven narrative that connects Mozart and Beethoven through one of classical music's most charged tonalities, while showcasing Blechacz's artistry in major concerto repertoire and solo Beethoven.

SYMPHONY NO.3, METAPHYSICA HARP CONCERTO Internationally acclaimed Japanese composer and conductor Joe Hisaishi leads the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with celebrated harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, in a major world premiere recording that pairs his Symphony No. 3 'Metaphysica' with his new harp concerto - a virtuosic, genre-defying work.

John Williams Legacy is a landmark collection featuring the maestro conducting his most iconic film scores, including beloved classics from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, E.T., and more. Performed by world-renowned orchestras, including Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, and the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles, these definitive high-fidelity recordings capture the composer's vision with unparalleled authenticity. Featuring liner notes by acclaimed journalist and author John Burlingame, this collection is a powerful celebration of one of film music's greatest careers and an essential addition for fans old and new. CD Digipak.

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