International sensation Federico Colli continues his personal exploration of the music of Mozart with this second volume of works for solo piano. Colli opens his programme with the Adagio in B minor, K. 540, from 1788, toward the end of Mozart's short life. The only piece on the album not to involve variation form, this Adagio instead adopts sonata form, and is an extremely rare case in Mozart's output of it's chosen key. The two sets of variations that follow (from the seventeen sets that Mozart composed) use a similar approach in their method of constructing variations on the theme - 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' in the first instance, and Gluck's smash hit 'Les Hommes pieusement' (or 'Unser dummer Pobel meint') in the second. Colli concludes his programme with the rather extraordinary Sonata in A major, K. 311. Instead of the expected sonata form, the first movement is a theme with (six) variations. Following the second movement (a minuet and trio), Mozart finishes with a rondo - arguably one of his most famous pieces, the 'Alla turca'.

For this, the fifth instalment of his Shostakovich symphony cycle, John Storgards turns to some of the earliest of the composer's orchestral output, works which Shostakovich largely wrote during his student years. The orchestral scherzo was a favourite task set by composition tutors of the time: the relatively simple form still demands that the student produce contrasting material for the outer and central sections, and manage the transitions effectively. Unsurprisingly, the form looms large in the early works of Shostakovich, as well as Stravinsky, Bartok, and many others. The two examples recorded here show the young composer's ability and style, although not yet perhaps a distinct compositional voice. They do both share links with the later First Symphony, however, which was composed as a graduation test in composition from the Petrograd Conservatoire. Shostakovich spent two years working on it, but the Symphony he eventually produced was an instant success, marking him out as a Boy Wonder among Soviet composers. Written four years later, the Third Symphony evidences not only the rapid development of Shostakovich as a composer, but the equally rapid change in the world he inhabited. He passed the newly required examination in Marxist ideology in December 1926, and managed to extend his registration as a postgraduate student at Leningrad Conservatoire until early 1930. He submitted the symphony with the explanation that it 'expresses the festive spirit of peaceful construction'. At this early stage of the first of Stalin's Five-Year Plans, he already demonstrated his realisation that political spin would be crucial to his creative survival.

Hailed by The Daily Telegraph as 'a voice of real distinction', Nicky Spence possesses unique skills as a singing actor and a rare honesty of musicianship, all of which has earned him a place at the top of the classical music profession. Admired in particular for his interpretation of the music of Jan�cek, he has appeared worldwide in the composer's operas. Performing here with the outstanding pianist Dylan Perez, he presents a varied programme of Czech and Slovak art song. Bela Bartok found his lifelong enthusiasm for folk music sparked whilst on holiday in Slovakia in 1904, when he heard a nursemaid singing. Village Scenes sets five folksongs from a large Slovakian collection published in 1915, and depicts various aspects of a country wedding. Jaroslav Kricka became a central figure in Czech musical life, occupying the posts of chorus master of the Czech Philharmonic and professor of composition at the Prague Conservatory, amongst others. His Three Fables are settings of traditional fairy tales. Vitezslava Kapr�lov� was a composer of great promise who died of TB in 1940, aged just twenty-five. She studied conducting with V�clav Talich and composition with Vitezslav Nov�k before moving to Paris where she was taught by Bohuslav Martinu. Her song cycle Sparks from Ashes deals with themes of love - found, flourishing, and lost - as do the eighteen numbers of Dvor�k's song cycle Cypresses. Written by Kapr�lov� four years later, the haunting Waving Farwell was inspired by having to leave Prague for her new life in Paris.

Sir Andrew Davis was a talented keyboard player as a child and teenager, and after study with Peter Hurford, at St Albans, he spent four years at the University of Cambridge as organ scholar at King's College, under Sir David Willcocks. It was this period of his life that sparked his love for and appreciation of the organ works of J.S. Bach, which remained a lifelong passion. Sir Andrew made all the transcriptions on this album for the BBC Philharmonic, and four of them were recorded in November 2023. Sadly, Sir Andrew died before the final recording sessions for the album could take place (September 2024): we are immensely grateful that he completed the arrangements, and very thankful to Martyn Brabbins for completing the recording with the sense of style, love, and affection that Sir Andrew would have admired.

Following their successful album Overtures from Finland (CHSA 5336) Rumon Gamba conducts the Oulu Symphony Orchestra in another programme of works from their native land. The album takes it's title from Selim Palmgren's four movement suite, which was written in 1904 and are richly atmospheric character pieces celebrating the changing seasons. Several of the works here take inspiration from the natural world, not least Sibelius' Kurkikohtaus (Scene with Cranes), originally composed as incidental music for a play by his brother-in-law, Arvid Jarnefelt. Robert Kajanus is often considered the father of Finnish music. As a young man, Kajanus was one of the standard bearers in the drive for Finnish independence, and he developed a keen artistic interest in Finnish folklore and vernacular traditions. His second Finnish Rhapsody (Suomalainen rapsodia), Op. 8, dates from 1886 and is the oldest work here. The album also features works by two other key Finnish composers: Vaino Raitio and Leevi Madetoja - a native of Oulu. Taken as a whole, the album presents it's own fascinating picture of Finnish Orchestral Music.

This album combines pieces for the core quintet of Onyx Brass with works for extended brass forces, plus piano in the case of Florence Price's Octet for Brasses and Piano. The majority of the pieces here receive their first commercial recording, the two Britten premieres bringing two long-forgotten pieces out of the Britten Pears Archive, in Aldeburgh, into the sunlight. Alongside these new discoveries are performances of established favourites by Sir Malcolm Arnold and Joseph Horovitz, staples of the brass chamber repertoire for more than half a century. The selection of composers spanning most of the twentieth century, and from both sides of the Atlantic, gives the album a refreshing contrast of musical traditions and styles. Founded in 1993, and initially inspired by the pioneering early years of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Onyx Brass remains a leading light in cementing the place of the brass quintet as a medium for serious chamber music. To this end, the group has commissioned and performed the world premieres of more than 200 new works; many more are in the pipeline for performance and recording.

Acclaimed flautist Lisa Friend writes: It has long been a dream of mine to record an album featuring the works of some of my favourite American composers. Having grown up in New York, I have cherished memories of watching, as a young child, my father, Rodney Friend (concertmaster), perform with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of his close friend Leonard Bernstein. I recall being in rehearsals, where my father and Bernstein would often discuss the scores during breaks - a time I wish I could relive. This album brings together a selection of American works and original arrangements that hold a special place in my heart. Dad always played Heifetz's version of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, hence my wanting to record it here. Bernstein's West Side Story, and especially the theme 'Somewhere', has been one of my all-time favourites. I have recorded Ashokan Farewell for my brother Steven, knowing how much he loves this beautiful melody. I dedicate the lovely Poem by Griffes to my wonderful teacher and mentor, Renee Siebert, former flautist of the New York Philharmonic.

The Neave Trio's new album celebrates French works for piano trio, focussing on three works composed around the turn of the twentieth century. Saint-Saens's Piano Trio No. 2 dates from 1892 and comprises five movements. Unusually for Saint-Saens, the work took a great deal of time from conception to completion (over five years) and then went through a number of revisions before Saint-Saens was finally satisfied. Mel Bonis's two pieces Soir and Matin, whilst on a smaller scale, are equally powerful works, bridging the worlds of romanticism and impressionism. The first piece is dominated by a cantabile melody, whilst Matin is more chromatic and harmonically complex. The album concludes with Sally Beamish's arrangement of Debussy's orchestral masterpiece La Mer. This three-movement symphonic work presented Beamish with an exceptional challenge, as she strove to 'reinvent Debussy's orchestral score with the piano trio in mind... This meant exploring what strings and piano can do in terms of texture, and concentrating on idiomatic and natural techniques.' By studying and recreating Debussy's colours and textures, rather than attempting to transcribe every note, Beamish produced an arrangement that presents the performers and listeners with a completely new perspective on these well-loved seascapes.

Wilhelm Furtwangler was born in Schoneberg (now a district of Berlin) in 1886, but spent most of his childhood in Munich, where his father, an archaeologist, taught at the university. He received a musical education from an early age, and soon became obsessed with the works of Beethoven - a lifelong fascination. Furtwangler considered himself to be a composer, and learned to conduct principally to be able to promote his own works. Everyone else saw him as an incredibly talented conductor, but as a composer? - not so much. It is, however, his own individual approach that underscores his entire career - his reputation as a conductor was built on the re-interpretation of each score he conducted, a principle far removed from the then more usual rigid adherence to performance tradition. His whole career was built on his belief in the sanctity of the German artistic tradition - not only of music but of literature and philosophy. Furtwangler rose to the most important conductorships available, replacing Richard Strauss at the Staatskapelle Berlin in 1920, and then, following the sudden death of Arthur Nikisch, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. Through the 1930s and '40s, his career was defined by his opposition to Nazism, and the determination of the regime to use his international reputation as propaganda to promote their cause. The best known of his three symphonies, the second was composed in 1945 - 46 whilst he was self-exiled in Switzerland.

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Madeline Dring was born into a musical and theatrical family, and gained an exhibition scholarship to the junior department of the Royal College of Music aged nine. Her focus changed from violin to piano and composition, which she studied with Herbert Howells, Gordon Jacob, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Her dedication to the theatre opened up a career writing music and songs for Revues & sketch-shows for theatre, radio and television: she had a facility and wit that some contemporaries compared to Gershwin. It is perhaps because of the nature of her work (commissions and performance-specific compositions) that a great deal of her output has been lost. Dring was married to Roger Lord, long-time principal oboe of the London Symphony Orchestra, for whom she wrote a number of works and arrangements that have been collected here. Nicholas Daniel OBE has long been acknowledged as one of the world's great oboists and is one of Britain's best-known musicians. He has significantly enlarged the repertoire for his instrument with the commissioning of hundreds of new works. He is joined here by Antonio Oyarzabal (piano), Adam Walker (flute) and Amy Harman (bassoon).

Brahms's Third Piano Quartet gestated for a long time - the first sketches were made in 1855, whilst the work was not completed until 1875. Numerous commentators tie the work to Brahms's infatuation with Clara Schumann, who certainly heard many of the various iterations of the piece before it's final version. But Brahms did not write programme music, and whatever his motivations may or may not have been, the result is, like the rest of his output, pure music. Louise Heritte-Viardot was a French singer, pianist, conductor, and composer. She was born in Paris, the eldest child of Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Louis Viardot, and sister to the violinist and conductor Paul Viardot. Her singing career was cut short by illness, but with the help of Clara Schumann she found a second career as a singing teacher at the Hoch Conservatory, in Frankfurt. In contrast to Brahms's quartet, Viardot's work is extremely programmatic. Titled I'm Sommer (In Summer), it comprises four movements which also carry evocative titles: 'Morning, in the Woods', 'Flies and Butterflies', 'Sultriness', and 'Evening, under the Oak-tree'.

John Wilson and Sinfoina of London complete their set of Rachmaninoff symphonies with this recording of the First Symphony and the Symphonic Dances. Rachmaninoff hoped that the First Symphony, composed in 1895, would build on the reputation of his graduation opera Aleko, which had proved a great success. The premiere, in St Petersburg in March 1897, was, however, a disaster. Rumour had it that the conductor, Alexander Glazunov, was drunk: true or false, it seems clear that he had little interest in the piece, leading to a raft of scathing reviews. This setback hit Rachmaninoff very deeply, and is considered by many to be the reason for the following three-year creative block only lifted by a course of hypnotherapy. Rachmaninoff left the score in Russia when he fled the revolution in 1917, and it was subsequently lost. Two years after his death it was reconstructed from a set of orchestral parts in the Leningrad Conservatory, and given it's second performance, in Moscow, in October 1945, since when it has gained it's place as standard orchestral repertoire around the world. The Symphonic Dances were written towards the very end of the composer's life, and started out in a version for two pianos, which Rachmaninoff performed with Vladimir Horowitz. He then set about orchestrating the work, which was first performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy in January 1941. Set in three movements, the Symphonic Dances reference the theme from the final movement of the First Symphony. In this recording, Sinfonia of London plays from John Wilson's own performing edition of the work.

Oscar Wilde's play Salome was conceived for the actress Sarah Bernhardt and was originally planned for performance in London, in 1892. The play was blocked by the sensor (it was forbidden at the time to depict biblical characters on stage) and so first given in Paris instead, in 1896. Wilde never saw his play performed, as he was serving a prison sentence for homosexual acts whilst the only two performances in his lifetime occurred. Subsequently the play gained popularity in Germany, and having attended a performance in Berlin in 1902, Strauss determined that this would be the subject for his third opera. First performed in 1905, Strauss's Salome has gone on to become much better-known than Wilde's play, and is regularly performed at opera houses around the world. This live recording was made at a performance at the Usher Hall, in Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2022. Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra are joined by an outstanding cast of soloists, led by Malin Bystrom in the title role, Gerhard Siegel as Herod, Katarina Dalayman as Herodias, and Johan Reuter as John the Baptist.