On one side, Francesco Corti, one of the most internationally acclaimed harpsichordists and protagonist of five acclaimed albums released by the Arcana label. On the other, Ilya Gringolts, making his debut for the same label: a violinist of extraordinary versatility, committed to contemporary music but also animated by a deep passion for the Baroque repertoire and historically informed performance. Proof of this is his recording of Locatelli's Il labirinto armonico (2021), which was awarded the Diapason d'Or and selected as Editor's Choice by Gramophone. Two artistically different but complementary personalities, united for years in a successful partnership, tackle a milestone of chamber music: the first great example of concertante sonatas for keyboard and melodic instrument. Completing the programme is Tertia deficiens, a piece by contemporary composer and Baroque violinist Andrew McIntosh (Grammy nominee), commissioned specifically for this project with the aim of creating an evocative bridge between past and present.

Veronique Gens' talent as a storyteller needs no introduction; she is an eminent ambassador for French melodie and tragedie lyrique around the world. "Make us laugh! "says this sparkling programme, devised in collaboration with the Palazzetto Bru Zane. 'Les Divas d'Offenbach' presents all the facets of the prolific Jacques Offenbach - operetta, opera-bouffe, fairy tales and opera-comique - his famous arias from La Belle Hel�ne, La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein and La Perichole, as well as previously unreleased works recorded here for the first time. There are sections from major works that were not included in the final version as well as rarities from incidental music such as Valeria, Le Roman comique, Genevi�ve de Brabant and La Boulang�re a des ecus, a work that is practically never performed today but which enjoyed great success in the 19th century. Gens' long-time collaborator Herve Niquet conducts the Choeur et Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire with style and passion.

Alain Altinoglu and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra have begun to record the complete symphonies of Shostakovich, starting with his Fourth and Fifth symphonies. Shostakovich dared to express human suffering, passion, fear and catastrophe in his music, but always asking the same nagging question: what is man? In this sense, these two symphonies open with a question - an idea of martyrdom that was to become one of the central ideas of his later symphonies and, of course, of his Lady MacBeth of Mzensk. Both symphonies are dated between 1935-1937 when Shostakovich was in his thirties; this was one of the darkest and most difficult phases of his life, marked as it was by the repercussions of some of his writings and the arrest of many people close to him, including members of his family.

The fact that Niels Wilhelm Gade became famous as a composer primarily for his symphonic and concertante music is probably one of the reasons why his piano music, despite being widely published in print during his lifetime, has been relegated to the shadows. Marie-Luise Bodendorff presents a selection of Gade's piano works here, which makes it clear that we should revise our image of Gade.

Around the central work of the CD, the "Friedenskonzert" by Daan Manneke, Gudrun Sidonie Otto, soprano, and the cathedral organist of the Basel Minster, Andreas Liebig, present a very multifaceted and expressive programme. The "Friedenskonzert" is part of the Baseler Psalms, which were commissioned for the millennium celebrations of the Basel Minster. In the programme, it is framed by two chorale arrangements on the Lutheran chorale "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir", one by Johann Sebastian Bach, the other by Max Reger. Furthermore, Gudrun Sidonie Otto sings two extremely demanding works, "Aus den Visionen der Hildegard von Bingen" by Sofia Gubaidulina and "Djamila Boupach�" by Luigi Nono. The whole programme is framed by two of the most important works of organ music, Bach's Fantasia et Fuga g-minor, BWV 542 and the organ sonata "Der 94. Psalm" by Julius Reubke, both masterly played at the organ of the Basel Minster by Andreas Liebig.

Since his student days, the German-Taiwanese pianist Marcel Mok has hardly studied any other work as frequently and intensively as Bach's Goldberg Variations BWV 988. It was therefore only logical not only to conclude his studies with this variation cycle, but also to make his recording debut with it. The result of this exploration absolutely proves him right!

The program of the CD with the Swiss pianist Gabiz Reichert with works by Schumann, Rachmaninoff and others presents itself as a unity of three parts: Images that convey different facets of the principle of return. They are all inspired by various influences that defy conventional interpretation, as the pianist explains in an accompanying text.

While the three composers featured on this recording are not, in the public perception and sometimes even in that of the performers, among the most significant exponents of Viennese music in the first half of the twentieth century, their remarkably expressive and virtuoso writing is deeply rooted in fin-de-si�cle Vienna. They were banned by the dictatorships of the 1930s and then blacklisted in the aftermath of the Second World War by the young European avant-garde, and it is only in recent years that the beauty and opulence of their works have been rediscovered. Vienna-born conductor Sascha Goetzel writes about the works performed here with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire: 'With Korngold, Schreker and Krenek, we're not just hearing music - we're entering a dialogue between past and present, tradition and rebellion, myth and modernity [...] Korngold embodies the emotional sincerity and creative ambition of the late Romantic tradition. Schreker immerses us in the subconscious - mythical, unstable, and rich in feeling. Krenek breaks through the facade, injecting irony, jazz and fragmentation into the orchestral form [...] In their own ways, each composer pushes back against inherited conventions to discover new languages of sound.'

SOMM Recordings is delighted to build upon it's critically acclaimed discography with violinist, Adrian Butterfield, and the London Handel Players in a new collaboration featuring the Op. 7 set of six Violin Concertos by the French violinist-composer, Jean-Marie Leclair. The London Handel Players, praised by the New York Times for their "soulful depth" and "consummate skill and musicianship," have previously released five Handel discs with SOMM, along with recordings that celebrate Geminiani, J.S. Bach, and Telemann. The group's co-founder and director, period-instrument violinist Adrian Butterfield, has been described as "a marvel" by Gramophone for his recordings of Leclair's first three books of violin sonatas. The solo concerto emerged in Italy in the early 18th century through composers like Torelli, Albinoni and, particularly, Vivaldi. J.S. Bach acquired a copy of Vivaldi's popular set of twelve concertos, L'Estro Armonico, to transcribe and study, and he put his own stamp on concerto writing with works that are larger in scale, making use of more detailed contrapuntal development and a greater degree of harmonic variety. When Jean-Marie Leclair met an untimely death on 23 October, 1764 in a still-unsolved murder in Paris, he left behind a stellar reputation as the founder of the French violin school, along with a collection of works for violin that includes four volumes�of solo violin sonatas and two volumes of violin concertos; his Op. 7, heard here, and Op. 10, to follow in the near future. These virtuosic and elegant violin concertos are something of an amalgam of the Italian concerto style and of Bach's formalistic innovations. Leclair was born in Lyon in 1697, and his dream was to become a solo violinist in his own country. But, at this time in France, violin playing was the province of country fiddlers and orchestral players, while the viol was the chosen instrument for the French upper classes. When the Italian violinist-composer, Arcangelo Corelli, published his iconic set of Op. 5 sonatas in 1700, no French violinist was equipped with the technique to perform them. Having spent a year studying dance and composition in the Italian city of Turin, Leclair moved to Paris, where he soon published his first set of twelve violin sonatas. For a couple of years, he commuted between Paris and Turin in order to study with a former student of Corelli's, and, over the course of two decades, published three more sets of sonatas, along with the two sets of violin concertos. The concertos are justly celebrated for their blend of French elegance and Italian virtuosity, reflecting not only Leclair's skill as a renowned violinist, but also his background, which drew on a variety of Europe's national styles. In the early 1910s, Holst became interested in astrology, and he conceived the idea of a suite for orchestra based on the solar system's individual planets. Originally, he composed�The Planets on the piano, using the instrument in his newly-built, sound-proofed room in the music wing at St Paul's Girls School as well as the piano at his home in Thaxted. This version for four hands, two pianos was scored by two of his colleagues at St Paul's, Vally Lasker and Nora Day, who acted as amanuenses, because Holst suffered intermittently from painful neuritis in his right hand. Following the resounding success of the orchestrated version of The Planets, the original piano duet score was overlooked, though it was eventually published separately in 1949-51. In 1979, Holst's daughter, Imogen, reissued the complete two-piano arrangement in one volume, and Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman perform this version here. Elgar's renown was such that, at the height of his fame, several established musicians were commissioned by publishers to make piano transcriptions of his orchestral music. This was no mean feat, given that Elgar's scores are scrupulously marked as to how he wanted every phrase-sometimes even every bar or note within that phrase-to be played. It was the composer, arranger, and conductor, Otto Singer II, who made the transcription for piano four-hands of Elgar's 1905 Introduction and Allegro, scored originally for solo string quartet and string orchestra. Singer's insight and skill are evident in techniques like transferring string double-stopping to spread keyboard chords, and his piano four-hands version is admirably true to Elgar's evolving contrapuntal and harmonic ideas. In Victorian England, the marriage of a tradesman's son to the daughter of a Major-General in the British Army, who was eight years his senior, might not have appeared a perfect match. Yet, the marriage of Edward Elgar and Caroline Alice Roberts turned out to be a love-match. In 1888, as a wedding present, Edward presented to Carice, as he called her, Salut d'Amour. This enduring melody has inspired numerous arrangements for widely varying instrumental combinations, including this one for piano duet.

Award-winning trumpeter/composer/arranger Jason Palmer, a fixture of the Boston jazz scene and frequent SteepleChase recording artist, presents his boldest artistic statement to date with this intimate duo recording. Shorter Songs marks Palmer's first commercially released duo album and pays homage to jazz legend Wayne Shorter through a series of original contrafacts based on Shorter's compositions. Joined by acclaimed pianist Kevin Harris-his longtime musical ally-Palmer explores the emotional and harmonic depth of Shorter's writing while bringing his own contemporary sensibilities into play. "Palmer has proven to be one of the most compelling artists of his generation." (Ken Dryden - NYC Jazz Record)

This deluxe, 21st anniversary reissue of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's legendary recording of the character Irene's arias from George Frideric Handel's Theodora - plus the composer's cantata La Lucrezia and the evergreen aria "Ombra Mai Fu" from Serse - evokes vivid memories of the mezzo-soprano's galvanizing musicianship and opens the ears of a new generation of music lovers to appreciate the timelessness of Lorraine's poignant interpretations. Specially remastered for this CD and newly available digitally in Dolby Atmos, the longevity of these performances is a testament to Lorraine's unique voice and soul. Conductor and leading Baroque specialist Harry Bicket recalls the immediate musical connection he and Lorraine shared from the time they first met in 1996 during rehearsals for Theodora at Glyndebourne. When Peter Seller's staging of the cantata was revived in 2003, it seemed obvious to go into the studio to record Lorraine's Theodora arias. A maverick musician and a riveting performer, Lorraine died in 2006 due to complications from cancer at the far-too-young age of 52. This recording, one of her last, preserves her consummate musical persona for posterity. The New Yorker's classical columnist Alex Ross characterised the album as "pull-down-the-blinds, unplug-the-telephone, can't-talk-right-now beautiful. She's singing it again; I have to go."

The German star pianist Matthias Kirschnereitdedicates this album entirely to the piano cosmos of Richard Wagner?. Wagner himself wrote few works for solo piano, but he influenced many of his contemporaries and musical heirs with his work?. Matthias Kirschnereit presents a wide range of repertoire - Wagner: Sonata for the album M.W., Lied ohne Worte E major for Eduard Reitz, In das Album der Furstin M., Zurcher Vielliebchen Walzer, Polka, Notenbrief fur Mathilde Wesendonck, Ankunft bei den Schwarzen Schwanen; Wagner/Stradal: Schmerzen; Wagner/Rubinstein: Musikalische Bilder aus Siegfried; Liszt: Am Grabe Richard Wagners; Bizet: Premier Nocturne D Dur; Duparc: Aux etoiles; Langgaard: Stambogsblad; Bulow: Innocence; Bruckner: Erinnerung; Mendelssohn: Lied ohne Worte E Dur op.38/3?

This powerful live recording from the Philharmonie Luxembourg brings together the choir of the renowned Gaechinger Cantorey and the Luxembourg Philharmonic under the musical direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann for an emotionally charged interpretation of Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem. Featuring acclaimed soloists Katharina Konradi (soprano) and Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), this performance offers a deeply human and musically refined experience of one of the most important choral works of the 19th century. Unlike the traditional Latin Requiem, Brahms' German Requiem focuses not on the dead but on the living - on comfort, compassion, and hope. Drawing on texts from the Lutheran Bible, Brahms crafts a spiritual and emotional journey that speaks directly to the human condition, transcending religious boundaries and remaining timeless in it's message. Rademann, a master of choral conducting, shapes the work with clarity, warmth, and expressive nuance. Under his direction, the Gaechinger Cantorey delivers a performance marked by rich tone, articulate phrasing, and emotional intensity. The Luxembourg Philharmonic adds glowing orchestral color and transparency, perfectly complementing the vocal forces. The synergy between choir, orchestra, conductor, and soloists is palpable throughout, offering a fresh yet profoundly respectful interpretation of this beloved masterpiece.

Martin Helmchen embarks on a complete recording of Schubert's piano sonatas, with four double albums to be released between now and 2028, the bicentenary of the composer's death. He has waited until he was in his forties to embark on this adventure because, in his view, an artist needs maturity to meet the challenges posed by the radical contrasts in Schubert's sonatas: "constant virtuosity that is never needlessly complex, set against sober interiority, the exuberant joy of the Landler, and bouts of dramatic madness". Recording a complete body of work also meant studying the scores carefully and tackling the question of the movements left unfinished by the composer, should we stop at the precise point where Schubert stopped composing simply because Schubert either ran out of time or did not have enough money to buy music manuscript paper? Helmchen has chosen to complete these movements, inspired by the recordings and above all the analyses of the eminent pianist Paul Badura-Skoda. This first volume presents sonatas composed between 1815 (Schubert was 18) and 1825. The entire cycle has been recorded on a Bosendorfer piano at the Kronberg Academy.

This is the new recording we have been waiting for. Three years after Brahms (ALPHA792), the Belcea Quartet returns in a new formation: Suyeon Kang, their new second violin, joined the quartet in 2023. Today the Belcea Quartet presents a new recording of the Debussy Quartet - which they had previously recorded on their very first album 25 years ago - and two quartets by Karol Szymanowski, a composer they are particularly fond of and who possesses a unique and immediately identifiable musical language. The first quartet was composed in 1917 but the Russian Revolution intervened; it's premiere finally took place in 1924. Szymanowski - then a world-renowned composer and a leading figure in the reconstruction of musical life in the young Polish Republic - wrote his second quartet ten years after the first in 1927; it was premiered in Warsaw two years later.