With Hail! Bright Cecilia, Henry Purcell, herald of the British Baroque, pays tribute to the patron saint of music through a score widely regarded as one of his masterpieces. Composed in 1692, this ode reflects both the artistic effervescence of 17th-century England and the central role of music in society at the time. Vincent Dumestre and Le Poeme Harmonique reveal the full expressive richness of Purcell's writing in a performance where jubilant brilliance, lyrical delicacy, and dramatic contrasts unfold with infectious vitality. Alternating between recitatives, solo arias, and sumptuous choruses, the score showcases Purcell's mastery of musical dramaturgy, balancing orchestral refinement with controlled theatricality.

Anne Akiko Meyers has amassed a multitude of fans and admirers for her exquisitely curated recordings, often exploring her passion for new music, and old music in new guises. Her quest for creative collaborations has inspired countless commissions and world-premieres, with the results infusing Shining Night, an album that embraces themes of love, poetry, and nature.

Anne’s fruitful association with composer Morten Lauridsen led to the arrangement of his popular choral work Sure on this Shining Night, for violin and piano, lending its name to the album’s title. From there springs forth an album imbued with music of light and hope, spanning the history of music through Baroque, Romantic, Popular, and current genres. J.S.Bach’s beautiful Air in G and Corelli’s colorful La Folia – arranged for violin and guitar – rub shoulders with Latin-tinged Estrellita (Little Star) by Manuel Ponce, the Aria from Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, and Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango. Two of the 20th century’s most iconic songs appear in intimate and tender new arrangements: Duke Ellington’s (In My) Solitude, and Can’t Help Falling in Love, famously crooned by The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. Anne’s collaborators are eminent Italian pianist Fabio Bidini and Grammy Award-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux.

REVIEW:

Few violinists would have had the idea to ask the quintessential choral composer Morton Lauridsen, as Meyers did, to arrange two of his choral works for duo with violin. Fewer would have juxtaposed Lauridsen with Elvis Presley, and fewer still would have been able to make this marvelously varied program hang together. Meyers transforms the basic violin encore type of program into something new and fresh. She has made a specialty of bold, original, and immediate programming, but has outdone herself this time.

-- AllMusicGuide.com (James Manheim)

The Gottingen Symphony Orchestra under Nicholas Milton combines Dvorak's well-known symphony From the New World with the orchestral work Frozen in Time by Avner Dorman. This unusual combination results in an exciting musical journey that challenges the performers to present a broad spectrum of styles and techniques, thus opening up a "new world".

For Brahms, folk songs were sources of musical inspiration, not subjects for academic study. The songs from Books 6 and 7 of the Deutsche Volkslieder exemplify how Brahms’ distinctive and expressive accompaniments brought unique qualities to these songs, how he intensified certain verses to draw out their power, or allowed the piano its own revealing melodic phrases. In Book 7 the songs are divided between a lead singer and a chorus, adding fresh musical possibilities. In the Volkskinderlieder (‘Children’s Folk Songs’) Brahms’ economy and deftness turn lullabies into works of art.

Poppea, a courtesan with an insatiable thirst for power, weaves her destiny with formidable grace. Mistress of the Emperor Nero, she frees herself from all restraints, sweeping aside past loves, orchestrating the suicide of the philosopher Seneca and precipitating the fall of the Empress Octavia. Her coronation and the coveted union with Nero could be seen as nothing more than a manifesto of amorality. However, under Monteverdi's majestic inspiration and Stephane Fuget's fervent direction, this ascension is transformed into an intoxicating ode to all-powerful desire, revealing the terrifying beauty of unrestrained ambition!

Having completed the entire trilogy of Handel's Concerti grossi, the Akademie Fur Alte Musik Berlin presents a recording of the first six Concerti grossi, Op. 6 by the composer, ensemble leader and violin virtuoso Arcangelo Corelli, who received the almost cult-like reverence during his lifetime. The composer had been experimenting with this one of the most distinctive forms of instrumental music of the Baroque era since the late 1670s, but it was only towards the end of his life that he sought to publish these compositions and selected only twelve exemplary pieces from what was probably a much larger collection. He laid the foundations of this instrumental form for future composers such as the aforementioned Georg Frederic Handel, who paid tribute to the Italian Baroque master with his two opuses. The Akademie Fur Alte Musik Berlin and it's two concertmasters, Mayumi Hirasaki and Georg Kallweit, who demonstrate their extraordinary virtuosity, only prove why they are regarded as one of the most influential period-instrument ensembles of today. The Akademie Fur Alte Musik Berlin has a substantial PENTATONE discography, including the Diapason d'Or awarded CANTATA with Bejun Mehta (2018), Handel's Concerti grossi Op. 3 and 6 (released in 2019 and 2020), Telemann's Miriways (2020), Handel's Messiah (2020), Haydn's L'isola disabitata (2021), La Passione with Christina Landshamer (2022), a recording of Mozart's Paris and Haffner symphonies and the Oboe Concerto with Xenia Loffler (2023), Telemann's Ino (2024), and a recording with Mozart's symphonies Nos. 29 & 33 and the Clarinet Concerto with Ernst Schlader (2024).

Fourteen years after her victory at the XVI International Chopin Piano Competition, Yulianna Avdeeva documents her journey with the music of Frederic Chopin. Voyage focuses on his late works, all composed while surrounded by nature, and Avdeeva has recorded them at the rustic Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, against the serene backdrop of the Beartooth Mountains. A pianist of fiery temperament and virtuosity, Avdeeva plays with power, conviction, and sensibility, having won over audiences all over the world. She returns to PENTA-TONE after her acclaimed label debut with Resilience (2023).

Carl Teike achieved great success at the beginning of his career with Alte Kameraden (available on Naxos 8.574317), renowned as the German 'march of marches'. Characterised by a clear structure, inventiveness and a wide range of tone colours, Teike's marches significantly enriched the German concert march genre. On this second of three volumes they range from the festive Aus allen deutschen Gauen ('From All Regions of Germany') composed for veterans, marches with patriotic titles such as Der Kaiser kommt and Kaiser-Parole or dedicated to major cities in Northern Germany, to Die Welt in Waffen ('The Weaponised World'), which gave rise to political scandal in it's day.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and it's Music Director Jader Bignamini present Wynton Marsalis' Blues Symphony. The piece is a triumphant ode to the power of the blues and the scope of America's musical heritage. With a blend of influences from ragtime to habanera, the piece takes listeners on a sonic journey through America's revolutionary era, the early beginnings of jazz in New Orleans, and a big city soundscape that serves as a nod to the Great Migration. Detroit being one of the most vibrant melting pots of musical cultures in the US, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra seems the ideal advocate for this original contribution to the symphonic repertoire. The recording is also the first with Jader Bignamini, giving a new dimension to his music directorship. Wynton Marsalis is a world-renowned trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and a leading advocate of American culture. Jader Bignamini has worked with the world's leading orchestras and opera companies, preferably conducting without a score to guarantee maximum engagement with his players. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, America's fourth-oldest, has a history as varied and exciting as that of it's hometown.

Carl Teike's Alte Kameraden is one of the most popular marches in the world but surprisingly little is known of it's composer or the circumstances surrounding his compositions. This release is the first volume in a comprehensive edition of Teike's marches, made with The Royal Swedish Navy Band conducted by Alexander Hanson.

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and it's chief conductor Karina Canellakis continue their Bartok journey with the composer's only opera, Duke Bluebeard's Castle, starring mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham (Judith) and bass-baritone Gabor Bretz (Bluebeard). One man, one woman, and a dark castle with seven mysterious doors are all it takes to create a psychological thriller full of suspense and intense emotion. Karina Canellakis and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra received a Grammy nomination for their recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and 4 Orchestral Pieces, which BBC Music Magazine praised as "enticing and brilliantly engineered", while Gramophone lauded how orchestra and conductor "paint the soundscapes with both finesse and fire." For Canellakis, Bartok's opera recorded here is "an homage to life itself, to life's brevity and fleeting beauty, to being human, to love, and to death." Internationally acclaimed for her emotionally charged performances, technical command and interpretive depth, Karina Canellakis has become one of the most in-demand conductors of her generation. She returns to PENTATONE as Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra continuing their Bartok cycle that began with the aforementioned Concerto for Orchestra in 2023. Rinat Shaham and Gabor Bretz are sought after by the world's greatest opera houses and have long-standing experience performing Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle with various orchestras and conductors around the world.

In 1607, Claudio Monteverdi premiered his Orfeo for the Carnival opening in the Court Theatre of Duke Vincenzo I of Gonzaga in Mantua. For the first time in the history of music, real characters are brought to life with deeply moving human feelings: with this exceptional dramatic power, modern opera is born. Stephane Fuget, a great specialist in this repertoire and it's historical instrumentalisation, after Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, has brought together some of the finest vocal and instrumental virtuosos for this new Orfeo: he has entrusted the eponymous role to the splendid and sensitive Julian Pregardien, to sing all the magnificence of the first true hero in the history of opera.

A beloved trio of Romantic violin sonatas in the passionate and assured hands of an exciting Italian violinist near the start of her career: an auspicious debut on Brilliant Classics.

Germana Porcu Morano has produced a gripping account of the three violin sonatas by Edvard Grieg in partnership with one of the great Italian musicians of his generation, Bruno Canino. The pianist brings decades of experience to bear on parts which, especially in the testing Third Sonata, demand a virtuosity beyond anything in the Lyric Pieces. Meanwhile Porcu Morano’s urgently communicative musicianship is well suited to works which exemplify the fascinating tension between Grieg’s musical nationalism and his cosmopolitan outlook as a composer with colleagues and friends across Europe.

There are Norwegian elements to all three sonatas – Grieg’s teacher, Niels W Gade, even pronounced his verdict on the Second as ‘too Norwegian’ – but in counterbalance to the folk-like melodies which especially bring a rustic character to both slow movements and finales, there is a breadth of form and broad current of German romanticism to be appreciated in the first movements. Grieg himself took particular pride in the Third, a work of full maturity written in 1886 unlike the student efforts of the first two sonatas, and Porcu Morano’s performance captures the composer’s sense of its ‘broader horizons’.

Winner of the 30th edition of Michelangelo Abbado violin competition held in Milan in 2009, Germana Porcu Morano studied in Bergamo, and has gone on to win several other national and international prizes. She has performed as a soloist and in chamber ensembles across Europe and in China. She is a member of the Paganini String Quartet, with plans afoot to record the complete quartets by Paganini.

Adalbert Gyrowetz, born precisely between Mozart and Beethoven, was among those who witnessed the upheaval of changing times in especially drastic fashion. When he died in 1850, Schumann was 40, Liszt 39-and Chopin, who had debuted in Warsaw in 1818 with a piano concerto by the Bohemian, had already been dead for six months. Gyrowetz's instrumental music had once been widely celebrated: published in large numbers, frequently performed, and eventually forgotten. The composer turned to the stage, wrote sacred music, and created a late period for himself in which he may have looked back with melancholy on earlier works, pieces sometimes thought to rival Haydn at his best. This sampling from the "good old days", compiled by tireless rediscoverer Howard Griffiths, shows how such impressions came about. The orchestra is no coincidence: Gyrowetz once enjoyed high esteem even on the Thames. Now he is back.

From the outset of his career, Jean Sibelius was recognized as an outstanding representative of a musical language perceived as typically Finnish. In Finland, the dawn of the 20th century saw a veritable outbreak of nationally inspired artistic activities., It was a time of cultural and national self-discovery for Sibelius, too. He allowed himself be stimulated by the whole of Finland’s folklore tradition, without resorting to specific examples of folksong.

For many years, Carl Nielsen was viewed outside his native Denmark as the poor cousin of his more famous Scandinavian counterparts, Grieg and Sibelius. Yet his achievements as Denmark’s greatest symphonist of the 20th century were, if anything, even more remarkable than the successes of his geographical neighbors. Nielsen’s symphonic output is some of the most remarkable of its time.

The Norwegian conductor and composer Johann Svendsen was born in 1840 in Christiania (now Oslo). in 1867, he finished his Symphony No. 1, a work that Grieg later described as showing scintillating genius, superb national feeling and really brilliant handling of an orchestra. In 1872 Svendsen returned to Christiania beginning a fruitful period that saw the creation of his Symphony No. 2 in B flat major Op. 15.

Hugo Alfven's First Symphony (1897) has a melancholy Sturm und Drang mood that recurs at intervals in his later compositions, but there is also a life affirming side that flourished in his Second Symphony, two years later. Of his Third Symphony, he stated "it depicts neither concrete nor abstract. It is an expression of the joy of living, an expression of the sun-lit happiness that filled my whole being.”

Wilhelm Stenhammar's Symphony Op. 34  saw the light of day in 1907, dedicating it to “my dear friends, the members of the Goteborg Symphony Orchestra.” He was to remain its chief conductor until 1922. That symphony, which had its first performance under the composer’s direction in 1915, was in fact Stenhammar’s second and is today called Symphony No. 2, even if the composer himself never gave it that number.

Edvard Grieg’s Symphony in C minor, which the composer withdrew, saw scholar after scholar writing about it disparagingly, with much discussion of the its style, all too often based on the question: what are its unoriginal or unsuccessful features? But it was Grieg himself who began the tradition with his admonition that it “must never be performed”. Now, however, very few feel, on moral grounds, that the work should not be performed.

Dvorak's symphonic poems are fascinating works because they offer a perfect combination of colourful orchestration, lively narrative art and deeply rooted Czech folk music tradition. The poems recorded here, 'The Water Goblin' (1896), 'The Midday Witch' (1896) and 'The Golden Spinning Wheel' (1896), in particular, demonstrate the composer's ability to paint musical pictures and tell stories in a haunting way.

Although Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) is now best known for his keyboard music, it was his vocal works that were published during his lifetime. Perhaps his greatest achievement ass a composer was the polyphonic settings for between four and eight voices of all 153 psalms based on the French metrical Psalter of Clement Marot and Theodore de Beze. Published in four volumes between 1604 and 1621, this huge work is one of the great monuments of Protestant sacred polyphony. This 3CD selection from the psalms makes an ideal introduction to them, being performed by a professional Dutch choir, experts in early music and in Renaissance Dutch style in particular, and directed by a number of illustrious names including Paul van Nevel, Philippe Herreweghe, William Christie, Ton Koopman and Peter Philips. The Netherlands Chamber Choir were pioneers in their field, at a time when choirs were behind the pace of instrumental ensembles in terms of taking on a modern understanding of how to perform this repertoire, with smaller forces, tight intonation, pure tone and dynamic thrust of phrase. The selection illustrates the variety and ingenuity to be found in Sweelinck's vocal output as a whole. There is robust, Venetian-style polyphony; elegantly fluid counterpoint; and straightforward, hymn-like simplicity of gesture. Sweelinck shapes and manipulates his original psalm melodies with an imaginative freedom worthy of Bach in his chorale settings. Like Bach, he is a master word-painter, whether evoking concepts of life and death or down-to-earth images of flora and fauna. Recorded in the late 80s at churches in Amsterdam and Haarlem, these performance attracted critical praise when first released, for the 'first-class' vocal ensemble and engineering. This reissue includes full annotations on Sweelinck and the psalm settings included. - Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was a highly influential Dutch composer, organist, and teacher of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Among his most notable works are his settings of the Psalms, which show his mastery in both vocal and instrumental music. Sweelinck's Psalms are based on the Genevan Psalter, a collection of psalm settings originally developed by the Protestant reformers, particularly for congregational singing in Reformed churches. - Sweelinck's versions of the Psalms elevate these simple melodies with intricate polyphonic settings, blending Renaissance counterpoint with early Baroque elements. His innovative use of harmony, counterpoint, and expressive text setting reflects his ability to bridge the two eras of music. The Psalms are notable for their emotional depth and variety, capturing the moods of the texts - ranging from joy and praise to lamentation and supplication. - These recordings of a selection from the in total 150 Psalms were made in the 1980s and 1990s, by the famous Netherlands Chamber Choir, conducted by the most notable Early Music conductors of the time: William Christie, Ton Koopman, Peter Phillips, Jan Boeke, Philippe Herreweghe and Paul van Nevel. The choir is supported by a rich instrumental ensemble. - Truly legendary recordings of timeless Choral treasures from the Netherlands! Originally issued by NM Classics.

The unique instrumentation of the three works in this album was pioneered by the innovative Lou Harrison, whose 1959 concerto encapsulates his culturally wide-ranging aesthetic. More conventional instruments work alongside calibrated extras such as wash tubs and flowerpots in a work of color, languorous elegance and kinetic energy. The companion works were composed in its honor: Robert Xavier Rodríguez’s Xochiquetzal evokes the ancient Mayan world in imaginary folk music to form a synthesis of time periods and cultures, while the economical serenity of Kati Agócs’s concerto also includes bitonal effects and zesty syncopation.

Barbara Heindlmeier & La Ninfea spend a day as a gentleman in baroque London “Gentleman for a Day” is la Ninfea’s second production with Perfect Noise, this time with founding member and renowned recorder player Barbara Heindlmeier as the soloist, also known for her excitingly innovative concepts.

When thinking of a true London gentleman, the first thing that comes to mind are top hats and courteous behaviour, elegance and elevated status. Recorder, too? But of course! Well, the fine gentleman didn’t (yet) have a top hat around 1700, but of course it was excellent manners to have a recorder in your pocket for you to, for example, serenade the lady you adored at any given moment - a welcome occasion for Barbara Heindlmeier and her colleagues to be “Gentleman for a Day”. Everything is included: from getting up in the morning to going for a walk, visiting the royal court and going to the opera, to the obligatory five o’clock tea and preparing for the said serenade.

An exciting and busy day plotted out with music by composers such as G.F. Handel, H. Purcell, M. Locke and J. Playford. The Bremen baroque ensemble La Ninfea stands for the highest artistic standards. They have since made a name for themselves with creative, cross-genre concert formats. This baroque ensemble with a varying line-up is completely dedicated to the art of baroque ornamenation and improvisation. Their own contributions such as the divisions on ‘Strawberries and Cream’ or ‘John come kiss me now’ underline the richness of colour, emotional density and fast-moving contrasts so inherent to this repertoire.

Saskia Giorgini presents Images, containing some of Claude Debussy's most colourful piano works. Starting with tuneful early works such as the Danse (Tarantelle styrienne) and Deux arabesques, Giorgini gradually works towards later, more ambitious pieces such as the Estampes and the two sets of Images, from which the album derives it's name. Debussy's music has always held an enormous attraction to Giorgini, and this album is the result of a years-long search to bring these mesmerising musical pictures to life. With her solo Liszt recordings, Giorgini has demonstrated a masterful touche and unique sense of colour, which makes Debussy's music an obvious next step.

This album celebrates the work of Thomas Ades, one of Britain's 'most imaginative composers' The Guardian, and Artist-in-Residence of the Halle (2023-25). Alongside a survey of his recent works for orchestra are two pieces by composers who have been championed by Ades. Conducted by Thomas Ades, 'one of the most accomplished and complete musicians of his generation' (New York Times) this album features three world premiere recordings, including Ades' Aquifer. Taking it's name from an underground geological structure through which water seeps and flows, the work features orchestral writing which is full of colour and movement, flamboyant climaxes and rich expression. Written during the first Covid lockdown, for an orchestra that had to play socially distanced, Dawn is constructed from a slowly unfolding passacaglia which passes between instruments, depicting the sunrise moving continuously around the world, in music of sonic beauty. Repetition is also at the heart of Shanty, as material is passed between orchestral voices, with hypnotic and captivating results. In contrast, ingenious use of imitation and repetition produce a gripping effect in the invigorating brass fanfare Tower. Premiere recordings of two works closely associated with the Halle complete this album. Leith's Cartoon Sun, described as 'mesmeric' (The Arts Desk), was commissioned by the Halle. The processional piece displays a rich soundscape, coloured with large tolling bells and stunning orchestral climaxes. The Halle and Ades gave the world premiere of William Marsey's Man with Limp Wrist' in 2023. Inspired by a Salman Toor oil painting and with writing which is rooted in historical melody and harmony, the music is full of emotion and expression. Thomas Ades, CBE: internationally acclaimed composer, pianist and conductor whose work has been presented in leading concert halls and opera houses worldwide. Recordings of his works have received numerous international awards and in 2024 Ades received the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal from Sir Simon Rattle, who described him as being an 'outrageously gifted' musician.

They played from towers and plazas, in town halls and churches, on feast days and to sound the alarm; they played for kings and landed gentry, for church dignitaries and diplomatic envoys, but also for the entertainment of the common people: the musicians of the alta capella or wind band, active throughout Europe between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries. Many of these musicians, who were often organized in guilds and paid by the ruling council of their cities, were masters of not just one instrument, but many, playing at the highest level of quality and with astounding virtuosity. In Spain, they were called ministriles, and we aim to present their magnificent music- particularly from the “Siglo de Oro” or Golden Age of Spain between 1550 and 1600- on this album in all its varied aspects and as many different contexts as possible.

Dr. Albert Schelb writes: “As a composer, Josef Schelb incorporated the most important styles that had developed around the turn of the century into his early compositions, although most of these were destroyed in an air raid on Karlsruhe in 1942. After war, Schelb turned to impressionism, expressionism, atonality and finally also to twelve-tone composition, but without ever committing himself exclusively to any one of these styles. Self-taught, he combined them to develop a style all of his own, and followed, so to speak, his own rules of development. Throughout his life, his speciality was the polyphonic treatment of motifs and themes, which he handled strictly or playfully, as main elements or in episodes. His polyphony is never dry and academic, but rather is always paired with a dash of warming Romantic sensuality in sound. This even applies to his late orchestral music and Movimenti of the 1960s and 1970s, in which the themes are always twelve-tone expressionistic, but the harmony is also distinctly impressionistic.”

The currently hottest German brass ensemble with great concept albums presents Christmas classics in completely new arrangements for the first time?. All-time classics like "Driving Home for Christmas", "It's beginning to look like Christmas", "Santa Claus is coming to town", "All I want for Christmas", "Let it snow", "White Christmas", "Frosty the Snowman" give this Christmas album a unique sound?

Of Carl Loewe's oeuvre, his comprehensive Lied edition is best known. In contrast, his two symphonies are rarities that we do not want to withhold from you. Unfortunately, nothing is really known about the exact circumstances of the composition and premiere of the two symphonies. With regard to the E minor symphony, Loewe himself at least left the note that the composition was completed on December 15, 1834. With regard to the D minor symphony, it is assumed that it was composed in 1835. Especially the D minor symphony, which was composed later, comes up with surprises in its formal layout. The instrumentation is very similar to his first symphony in E minor, but the frequent use of four horns is striking, with which Loewe takes a step further towards the typical Romantic instrumentation. When looking at the sequence of movements, the interchange of slow movement and scherzo is striking, and in the harmonic structure Loewe allows himself an extravagant excursion into F-sharp major in the introduction of the fourth movement. The album is completed with Loewe's Themisto Overture, a compressed drama whose atmosphere comes to a head with tremolo surfaces, falling lines and syncopated counter-motives.