Recorded in 1997 and 1998 and released in 1999 as Rachel Podger's seminal solo debut albums, J. S. Bach's complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin are re-released today. Hailed at the time by The Irish Times as 'Clearly, a violinist to watch out for,' Podger more than fulfilled that early promise. In approaching these works, Podger sought to find 'the language of these works, to understand their complexity, to search for the meaning in every phrase... and finally come out the other end with something clear and beautiful.' More than 300 years after their composition, Bach's Sonatas and Partitas continue to astonish performers and listeners alike: a piece of wood, a few strings and a bow, and an almost unbelievable world of expression. As Podger observes, 'Every note and expression has it's rightful place and nothing ever seems too elaborate or deprived of something or too intense. The music flows with a confidence that balances our intellectual, emotional and spiritual interests.'

When Sally Beamish wrote her duo Tracing for [Martin Roscoe and me] to perform at London's Wigmore Hall, we knew we wanted to share it with as many people as possible. As we were considering how best to programme Tracing, I kept thinking of more nocturnes, cradle songs, and works with a nighttime theme or feel that I love playing. There were pieces central to my childhood that made me fall in love with music and the violin, such as Lili Boulanger's Nocturne and Faure's Berceuse. There were also pieces which I came across later, such as the beautiful Nocturne by Johannes Röntgen, a manuscript of which was recently sent to me. Martin and I arrived at a selection that takes us on a colourful journey through many different characteristics of the nighttime, portrayed by a range of wonderful composers: the music is by turns gentle, passionate, despairing, joyful, cocooning - with surprises hidden in every shadow. - Fenella Humphreys

Alessandro Stradella (1643-1682) was one of the most gifted and original Italian composers of the seventeenth century. Active during the transition from the early Baroque to the mature Baroque style, he made significant contributions to vocal and instrumental music, particularly the Sinfonias for Strings, which reveal his remarkable creativity. Stradella's Sinfonias for Strings occupy an important place in the development of orchestral music. Written for ensembles of string instruments and continuo, these works demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of texture, harmony, and formal structure, featuring contrasting sections, expressive melodies, and dynamic interplay between instrumental groups. His music often combines lyrical passages with energetic rhythms, creating a vivid sense of drama and movement. One of the most striking features of the Sinfonias for Strings is their expressive richness. Stradella was a master of melody, and his instrumental writing reflects the vocal qualities found in his operas and cantatas. The string parts frequently engage in dialogue, imitating and responding to one another in a way that enhances both clarity and emotional depth. This approach anticipates developments later associated with composers such as Arcangelo Corelli and even Antonio Vivaldi. This 3-CD set brings together 3 previously released recordings of Sinfonias, as played by Ensemble Giardino di Delizie, led by violinist Ewa Anna Augustynowicz, and Ensemble Arte Musica, led by Francesco Cera.

On 20 November 2026, Metier is thrilled to present a stunning new work, Brueg[h]el's Brush: 25 Miniatures for Solo Violin and Solo Viola by composer Nigel Clarke. Inspired by 25 paintings by the Bruegel family (and followers) exhibited in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. This exciting collaboration between composer Nigel Clarke, acclaimed violinist/violist Peter Sheppard Skærved, and the RMFAB aims to help the museum's visitors and international online audiences develop a deeper understanding of the Brueg[h]el dynasty's art with the aid of music. The work was premiered in the Bruegel Room at the RMFAB in the spring and summer of 2026, performed by Peter Sheppard Skærved alongside music composed in Bruegel's lifetime by composers including Ortiz, Bassano, Marini, van Eyck and Dowland. Nigel Clarke and Peter Sheppard Skærved have collaborated on several projects over the last thirty years, led by their areas of shared interest and travel, but this is the first time they have worked together on art. The miniatures were recorded on historic string instruments including two violins dating from the time of the Brueg[h]el family, one of which is a 1629 Amati. Pieter Bruegel was the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century and his masterpieces still speak to our imagination. An astute observer, his paintings capture everyday life with it's many celebrations and festivals, as well as mythological works, landscapes and still lifes, always rich in detail, colourful and visceral, and often humorous. The collection in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts contains many of his greatest works, and those of his family and contemporaries. The 11 movements comprising 'Book One' replicate the sequence of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and his son Pieter Brueghel the Younger from the most celebrated room in the museum. The 14 movements making up 'Book Two' reflect the constellation of works scattered across the whole site, also including works by Jan Brueghel the Elder, Jan Brueghel the Younger, as well as collaborations with Peter Paul Rubens and Hendrick van Balen the Elder.  Nigel Clarke is renowned for his virtuosic style and story-telling, and composes in a language of contrasts and colours. Here he conjures vivid musical images of the paintings with the myriad sounds of the viola and violin, through the masterful playing of Peter Sheppard Skærved. Clarke and Sheppard Skærved convey the noise and emotion in each work of art, even all the various musical instruments depicted in them. We can hear the joyful wedding dances, the screams of Icarus' father, the debauchery of 'The Wine of St Martin's Day', the quiet sadness of 'Massacre of the Innocents', the riotous 'Battle of Carnival and Lent' and the still rural balm of 'Landscape'. The different qualities of the two string instruments play a part too: many of the pieces require the bright qualities of the violin, but the viola brings compassion and tenderness. British, Belgian composer Nigel Clarke has held posts as Composition and Contemporary Music Tutor at the Royal Academy of Music and Head of Composition at the London College of Music & Media. His many national and international residencies and associations have included positions with the Young Concert Artist Trust, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, The Black Dyke Band and Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Peter Sheppard Skærved is a GRAMMY-nominated violinist with an extensive discography and international acclaim for performances of a vast range of solo repertoire from the late 16th century to contemporary works. Hundreds of works have been written for him, by both major composers and the many young composers with whom he collaborates worldwide.

This setting of the Stabat Mater, a 13th century hymn to the Virgin Mary, is written for soprano, tenor and bass soloists as well as chorus, strings and piano. The work was composed in 2009 and divides the original twenty stanzas of the text into ten movements. It describes the grief-stricken Mother of Jesus standing at the foot of cross, on which he is suffering an agonising death. The overall shape of these movements provides something of an arch structure, with similar music at the beginning and end. Similarly, a slower variation of the second movement is used for the penultimate movement.

The 4 Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi... are probably the most famous and often performed composition ever written. While you can hear it in the origin version in the great concert halls just as well as background music in a lift, most of us have some personal hearing memory about them. For me they have been a great companion over dozens of years, and I must say every time I come back to performing them I'm once and again truly mesmorised by the genius masterpieces. It is Programmmusik based on beautiful short poems which I find inspiring both as listener and as a performer. - Linus Roth

In the early years of the twentieth century a first wave of composers in the Caucasus laid down the basis of their national schools by grafting the outlines of western classical music onto local folk traditions. By mid-century a second generation took up the challenge more thoroughly, their compositions confidently handling the large forms of the concert hall, though still drawing on regional idioms. The Soviet orthodoxy of the day expected it's composers to abide by the rules, but the three composers heard here - two Azeris and a Georgian, all young men when they wrote the violin concertos on this album - brought something fresh and individual to the task, marrying east and west, form and freedom, tradition and originality.

Over the course of his life, Einojuhani Rautavaara's work has developed like a microcosm of the history of music since 1950. His break with the bonds of serialism and a commitment to his own unique ideals were of crucial importance to his international reputation - a courageous step that manifested itself in unmistakeable creations. Rautavaara demands extreme intimacy and immediate, vivid empathy from his listeners, but rewards them with a spiritual wealth that leaves an indelible impression. The 50-year old violin concerto with it's delicate reminiscences of Sibelius, the poignant declaration of love in the Serenade from the year of his death, 2016, and his beautiful Autumn Gardens written just before the turn of the millennium are impressive examples of his intelligibility and are for good reason the most often performed works of the Finnish master.

A striking portrait of Rebecca Clarke through the prism of her chamber music, covering the powerful Viola Sonata as well as a diverse sequence of miniatures and tone-pictures. After decades of neglect, the music of Rebecca Clarke is now receiving it's due attention, revealing her individuality as one of the most distinctive of English composers in the generation after Elgar. In her booklet essay, the pianist Margherita Santi recalls her introduction to Clarke and how it immediately sparked 'deep admiration and wonder': she finds the roots of Clarke's style in the music of Franck and Ravel but also the German tradition, paying tribute to the composer's uncompromisingly individual language. The Viola Sonata is one of Clarke's major works, which she wrote in 1918-19 while on tour between Honolulu and Detroit, and for herself to perform. The Sonata has since entered the repertoire of solo violists with an ardent vein of expression and gritty harmony, balancing pastoralism with an unsentimental toughness which makes it's occasional windows of visionary mysticism all the more effective. As Margherita Santi remarks, the Sonata evokes 'a melancholic sensitivity: the gaze of someone who, observing the world, perceives and understands what is unseen, yet chooses not to intervene.' The other works here are hardly less substantial, despite their smaller scale. Named after the Greek god of sleep, Morpheus (1917) inhabits a world of heavy-lidded rêverie which decorates the viola line with Szymanowskian tracery from the piano. A pair of Lullabies, harmonically simpler, are no less effective and even lovelier; a pair of folk-song settings, one Scottish, the other English, are moving in their simple restraint. Likewise based on an English folk tune, the Passacaglia returns to the shadowy and stormy world of the Viola Sonata. Midsummer Moon (for violin and piano) is perhaps the closest Clarke came to writing in a popular salon style. Finally, the trio of instruments joins forces in a nostalgic Dumka: a masterful fusion of Czech dance style with Clarke's own, more forward-looking perspective. This studio recording, made in Milan in 2024, makes an ideal introduction to the world of Rebecca Clarke, presenting her in the round, through cultivated performances by musicians who feel an affinity for the composer's trail-blazing and fearless spirit.

Where people sing, make yourself at home, bad people have no songs!". This saying is surely true, one has only to look at the growing a-cappella and choir scene to see that, and it is borne out again in the successful concept developed by Helge Burggrabe. In Hagios he invites listeners to be at home with themselves and slip out of the stress of everyday life. There are songs that the audience can sing along to, and they transform the hall into a great auditorium - altogether in the Taize tradition. Sold-out concerts prove that this concept chimes with the zeitgeist. Together with the Elbcanto vocal ensemble, pianist Christof Fankhauser and a string ensemble, he now presents his second album: Hagios II - Songs of Devotion and Meditation. For song-loving, spiritual people in search of peace, and for all those who simply want to retreat from everyday life and unwind. "As far back as I can remember, I hear the voice of my mother. Her bedtime songs, which sent me to sleep at night, were a comfort to me, they were the sound of safety," Burggrabe recalls. In Hagios II he continues his search for the invigorating power of song. He discovers melodies that are hundreds of years old. He comes across works from monastic cultures of all faiths, songs of those in search of peace and stillness, with their roots in ancient Jewish music. Communal singing - also known as "psalmody" - is to be found in Gregorian chant, in the Orthodox liturgy, in Taize songs and sacred songs of the present day. Hymns and prayers in music were always seen as healing and calming. Helge Burggrabe records all this and opens a space that invites the weary and troubled to reflect, to dream, to rest. The album covers a wide musical range. From peaceful, meditative pieces to lively songs of joy, Helge Burggrabe conveys inner peace, security and positive energy. Choral singing, piano and string ensemble are enhanced by the timbres of flute, accordion and organ, expanding the warm and heartfelt tone.

This notable album from Resonus Classics champions the rich, lyrical voice of Henriette Bosmans in a trio of concertante works and orchestral song. Cellist Gemma Rosefield brings deep emotional insight to both Poeme and the exquisite Second Concerto for cello, their expressive breadth deftly realised under George Vass's assured direction. Violinist Benjamin Nabarro brings supple brilliance to the poignant Concertstuk for violin, a moving tribute to Bosmans' lost fiance. Rowan Pierce's luminous soprano graces Lead, kindly light, capturing it's quiet spiritual fervour. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra offers vivid, idiomatic support throughout. A compelling portrait of one of the Netherlands' most distinctive musical voices, Bosmans' music emerges here as both intensely personal and of striking universal appeal.

GIACOMO OREFICE Quintet for Piano and Strings Idillio - Lirica - Novelletta - Mattutino - Appassionato - Bluette Agitato - Gondoliera - Humoresque - Canzone - Intermezzo - Finale Carolina Porro & Ana Pinedo, violins Tommaso Malacalza, viola Claudio D'Alicarnasso, violoncello Isa Trotta, pianoforte Sonata for cello and piano Allegro appassionato Andantino Quasi recitativo Vivace ed energico Claudio D'Alicarnasso, violoncello Isa Trotta, pianoforte Musette for violin and piano Tiziano Giudice, violin Daniele Martinelli, pianoforte

Dr. Jerzy Kosmala, internationally acclaimed as a concert violist and pedagogue, has concertized throughout Europe, the former Soviet Union, Canada, North and South America, Asia, and South Africa, and has recordings on several record labels. He is a frequent guest artist and performer at the world's foremost festivals, international viola congresses, universities, and academies, and is a permanent jury member of virtually all of the most prestigious international competitions, including the Lionel Tertis, Geneva, Munich, Markneukirchen, Trapani, Primrose Viola Competition, Brahms Viola Competition, and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in New York City.

This re-release of Beethoven: Violin Sonatas 4, 5 & 7 continues Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson's acclaimed exploration of Beethoven's violin sonatas on period instruments. Recorded in 2020, the album pairs Mullova's 1750 Guadagnini violin, strung with gut, with Beatson's fortepiano by Paul McNulty, offering performances grounded in historical practice. The programme brings together the dramatic Sonata in A minor, Op. 23, the lyrical "Spring" Sonata, Op. 24, and the sharply characterised Sonata in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2. Heard together, these works reveal Beethoven's expanding dialogue between violin and piano at a pivotal stage in his early maturity.

On 6 November 2026, Divine Art is thrilled to announce Window to the Stars, it's second release devoted to the highly appealing chamber music of Scottish composer Helen Leach. Window to the Stars follows her hugely successful 2024 debut album Diary of the Bee, and features an acclaimed lineup of artists, including pianist Simon Leach, cellist Adrian Bradbury, clarinettist John Bradbury, and violinist Benedict Holland. A cornucopia of new, imaginative works, Window to the Stars overflows with finely crafted and deeply redolent, sensitive music, with titles set to become classic repertoire. Leach writes: 'Often inspired by the abundance and timeless beauty of the natural world here in Scotland' Window to the Stars combines lush 'romantic lyricism, bursts of harmonic colour with evocative textures. At times majestic and dramatic, elsewhere infused with deep peace and moments of lightheartedness, the music reflects my own inner world'. 'Out of the Depths', the tender and poignant opening work for solo cello, is followed by two pieces transporting us to the wild and beautiful Scottish landscape: 'As the Feet of a Deer', a rich, expressive, earthen combination of clarinet, cello, and piano, conveying the stag's nobility and physicality, and 'Wherever I Wander', which is inspired by Robert Burns' poetry, begins with a simple folk melody, rhapsodic in it's nostalgia for a treasured homeland, and ends softly with a sense of sublime peace. 'When the Seasons Danced' also reflects the natural world, taking the listener through the seasons and landscapes and ending with the dreamy movement that gives the album it's title, 'Winter: Window to the Stars', which leaves a sense of wonder with distant echoes of Christmas bells. 'The Dove of Peace', for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, is a tribute to the beautiful, spiritual musical language of Messiaen's 'Quatuor pour la fin du temps', articulating our need for peace. 'Hommage a Edgar Degas' celebrates an artist beloved among musicians and dancers alike through melodic lines, musical gestures, and vivid colours reflecting the forms and movements of Degas' works. The uplifting and deeply spiritual 'Butterfly Garden draws on the inherent ethereal nature of the clarinet, while the expansive melody and undulating accompaniment of 'Prelude for a Royal Swan' for cello and piano seek to portray the beauty, dignity, and unwavering commitment of England's late Queen. Hallmarked with vivid storytelling and melodic strength, the distinctive compositional voice of Helen Leach is becoming increasingly regarded internationally, with the music of her Divine Art 2024 debut album Diary of the Bee being regularly broadcast on the airwaves around the world. Helen has a background as a clarinettist and church musician and was Principal Clarinet with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, going on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music. She was a Director of Worship in Manchester and there directed the music for live BBC Radio 4 broadcasts. In 2022, she became Composer-in-Residence at Marchmont House, Berwickshire, and the historic Lorimer Music Room. Helen works with the BBC Songs of Praise team, and since 2024 has conducted and arranged the ensemble music for the annual BBC Young Chorister of the Year event with Aled Jones.

On the concept album, "l'Experience Franco-Suedoise", the Sweden-based French harpist, Delphine Constantin-Reznik and Swedish soprano, Sabina Bisholt present music by Swedish composers who went to Paris to study around the last turn of the century, as well as music of their French teachers. Guest musicians are violinist Cecilia Zilliacus, clarinettist Dan Larsson, and bassoonist Roman Reznik. World premiere recordings, not least of women composers, mixed with some evergreens such as Camille Saint-Saens's "The Swan", arranged for harp in different settings.

Until thirty years ago, the Russian performing school largely overlooked the principles of playing historical instruments. However, with the fall of the "Iron Curtain" of traditional approaches, a newfound freedom emerged - not only in daily life but also in the interpretation of early music. Today, as we strive to preserve this cultural openness, we look back to the 18th century - an era when Russia made an extraordinary leap into the world of instrumental art in a remarkably short period of time. Ivan Khandoshkin, a brilliant violinist and composer, became the pivotal figure of this breakthrough. Born in 1747, Khandoshkin was an elder contemporary of W.A. Mozart and a younger contemporary of J. Haydn. Young Ivan's extraordinary talent led him, at the age of thirteen, to join the court orchestra of Emperor Peter III, a passionate music lover and amateur violinist himself. Under the tutelage of the Italian court violinist Titto Porto, Khandoshkin's progress was so remarkable that in 1762 he was appointed to the Court Orchestra. A significant milestone was the 1781 publication of two editions of his work in Amsterdam. After returning to St Petersburg in 1788, he remained a central figure in concert life, performing his own works and serving as a first violinist in various orchestras. In 1804, Khandoshkin died following a stroke and was buried at the Volkovo Cemetery in St Petersburg. Khandoshkin's sonatas for solo violin were published posthumously as Op.3 around 1806 by the St Petersburg publisher Friedrich Dittmar, but stylistic features indicate that they were composed in the 1790s. The use of the solo violin served both a practical purpose-allowing performance in the absence of a continuo player-and an artistic one: it was an opportunity to demonstrate the highest level of virtuosity. Any composer undertaking such works entered into an "intellectual duel" with works of great masters of these genres, such as the sonatas and partitas of J.S. Bach, the fantasies of G.P. Telemann, the fugues of J. Stamitz and W. Pichl, the sonatas of J.F. Reichardt and F.W. Rust. Khandoshkin holds a distinguished place in this lineage, his pieces pose exceptional technical demands while reflecting profound artistic intentions, embodying three distinct aesthetic currents: the fury of Sturm und Drang, the expressive nobility of the pathetish-galant style, and the refined hedonism of the Rococo. Anna Dmitrieva (b. 1987) graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where she studied under T. Liberova, P. Popov, and I. Dzektzer. She continued her studies in chamber music and Baroque violin at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Koln with A. Spiri, H. Schoneweg, R. Gwilt, and K. Junghanel. With her ensemble Ludus Instrumentalis, she completed postgraduate studies at the Mozarteum Salzburg under R. Goebel. Highlights of recent seasons include her work as concertmaster of Concerto Koln in Romantic repertoire under Kent Nagano and Jacob Lehmann, as well as appearances as leader and soloist in a wide range of Baroque programmes. She has also served as leader for Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Ensemble Boulevard Baroque, and Ensemble 1700. Her performing and recording collaborations include Cordevento, La Chapelle Harmonique, Compagna di Punto, Altera Pars, Il Pomo d'Oro, B'Rock Orchestra, Musica Gloria, Collegium Musicum '23, and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, among others.

Published in Salzburg in 1715, Artificiosus Concentus pro Camera is the only surviving collection for solo violin by Johann Joseph Vilsmayr, who served as a court violinist in Salzburg from 1689 until his death in 1722. We cannot be certain that he studied with Heinrich Biber, the greatest violinist of his age who became a leading musician at the Salzburg court, but the relationship between the two figures can be inferred from the style and the sophistication of Vilsmayr's writing for his instrument. Four of the partitas notably use scordatura, where the violin is retuned away from the conventional G-D-A-E intonation in order to explore new and striking expressive colours on the instrument. In works such as the cycle of Mystery Sonatas, Biber shows himself the master of this technique, but (as his putative student) Vilsmayr demonstrates a deep understanding of scordatura. For example, in the B flat major Partita, the highest string is lowered to D, creating a natural resonance that emphasizes a fundamental tone for that key. In the D major Partita, the scordatura (A-E-A-D) enriches the harmonic resonance by reinforcing the overtones of the key centre. Despite it's high musical and technical value, Vilsmayr's collection remains little known, especially when compared to contemporary masterpieces for solo violin such as the Mystery Sonatas, the Sonatas and Partitas of Bach or the Fantasias by Telemann. In his booklet essay for this new recording, the violinist Davide Facchini explains how he was initially drawn to the world of Biber, before discovering these fascinating works of Vilsmayr. He discovered for himself that they represent a landmark moment in the Austrian violin school, 'demonstrating a refined balance between technical invention, timbral exploration, stylistic sensitivity, and a profound preference for scordatura.' Born in Rome in 2000, Davide Facchini studied with luminaries of the Baroque-violin tradition such as Enrico Onofri, Lorenzo Ghielmi, and Enrico Casazza. This album marks his international debut on record.

Among the most distinctive voices in contemporary Irish music, Deirdre Gribbin has established an international reputation for chamber works of striking individuality and expressive depth. The works featured on this recording exemplify a sound world shaped by colour, texture, and an extraordinary sense of time, inviting listeners into spaces of reflection and emotional resonance. Central to this programme is Kindersang, a song-cycle based on the historically significant Kindertransport, a work that gives voice to the experiences of displaced children during the Second World War, while also resonating powerfully with the realities faced by children in the present day. It's dialogue between voice and violin creates an intimate and often haunting exchange, underscoring themes of memory, separation, and survival. Alongside this stands Soul Outsider, a chamber work inspired by the portraits of Lucian Freud, in which cello, clarinet, percussion, and electric guitar engage in a striking and dynamic interplay. Here, contrasting timbres and textures mirror the psychological intensity and layered humanity of Freud's imagery. Rooted in an awareness of history, memory, and landscape, Gribbin's music draws subtle connections between heritage and contemporary experience. Lyricism, connected to folk sources and tradition, emerges through a profound sense of place, atmosphere, and human experience, carefully crafted yet immediately engaging.

The Hamburg-born Ferdinand Thieriot (1838-1919) not only shared a teacher - Eduard Marxsen - with Brahms; both composers, who remained friends in later years, use a very similar musical language. The musicologist Wilhelm Altmann wrote that 'Thieriot's chamber music is without exception noble and pure. He writes with perfect command of form and expression' - as the works on this fifth Toccata Classics volume prove, in their exquisite balance of depth and beauty, of Brahmsian richness and Schubertian spontaneity. Thieriot's Op. 62 Octet for winds and strings brings one gorgeous tune after another, but it's the Op. 78 Octet for strings - here in it's first recording - that will astonish: in it's blend of melodic profusion and effortless counterpoint it is hardly less impressive than Mendelssohn's exemplar.

Reference Recordings proudly presents American Triad, with works of Felix Borowski, Ernest Bloch and Beryl Rubinstein. Each composer in the 'triad' has a distinctive credo and style, and each wrote major works for piano and orchestra which are presented on this new album of rarely heard masterpieces - four of which receive their first commercial recordings. Piano soloist Daniel Glover has performed in 42 states and in 25 countries throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America and the Caribbean. He holds a master's degree from the Julliard School, and trained with luminaries including Thomas LaRatta, Nancy Bachus, Jerome Lowenthal, Abbey Simon and Eugene List. He has numerous competition awards including first prize in the prestigious Liederkranz Competition in 1990. Mr. Glover has served on the faculties of New York University, University of the Virgin Islands, University of San Francisco, Notre Dame de Namur University and the Summer Piano Workshop of Kent State University. He has recorded eleven previous albums. He resides in San Francisco and frequently performs locally. The San Francisco Classical Voice remarked, 'The elegance and civility of Glover's approach were musically unimpeachable.' 'Dazzling... a flawless sense of Lisztian style incorporating it's emotional depth.' American Triad was recorded March 31-April 4, 2025 with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, in beautiful and historic Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was conducted by the GRAMMY award-winning American orchestral conductor and multi-GRAMMY-nominated violinist, John McLaughlin Williams. This release was recorded and mastered by the superb engineering team of Baltic Mobile Recordings: Vilius Keras and Aleksandra Keriene. It was produced by the GRAMMY-winning producing team Encore Consultants LLC (Victor and Marina Ledin).

Our life is like jazz improvisation; it should always be spontaneous, always in the moment, and always free.' (Nikolai Kapustin) Mission accomplished! After six years of rehearsals, concerts, and productions, all six piano concertos by the Russian jazz wizard Nikolai Kapustin are now available as recordings. Concertos Nos. 1 and 3, along with the no less virtuosic 8 Concert Etudes Op. 40, are released here for the first time, thereby completing this successful cycle. Drawing a parallel to one of the most prominent figures of symphonic jazz, Kapustin is often described as a 'Russian following in Gershwin's footsteps.' Frank Dupree has tirelessly followed that path, finally presenting us this significant gap in musical history.

Irish violinist Darragh Morgan, a tireless advocate for new music, here presents four concertos written for him over the past two decades by Frank Lyons, Brian Irvine, Bill Campbell and Ryan Molloy. Recorded with the Ulster Orchestra under David Brophy, this compelling programme reflects the richness of Northern Ireland's contemporary voice. Electronic transformation, folk-inflected rhythms and lyrical introspection coexist with passages of dazzling virtuosity, each work revealing a distinctive sound world. Together they form a vivid, cohesive portrait in which solo brilliance and symphonic imagination are fused with striking assurance and colour.

This box set represents the culmination of Viktoria Mullova's celebrated series of Beethoven Violin Sonata recordings - a distinguished body of work produced in collaboration with pianists Kristian Bezuidenhout and Alasdair Beatson that has earned consistent critical acclaim since it's inception in 2009.

Debut album of the outstanding Czech violinist Jan Mracek The debut album of Jan Mracek, concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, introduces one of the leading Czech violinists of his generation in repertoire that combines virtuosity, lyricism, and youthful energy. The album's centrepiece is Josef Suk's Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 24, one of the crowning achievements of the Czech violin repertoire, reflecting the composer on the threshold of his mature creative period. The work combines a solo part of exceptional technical difficulty with rich orchestral colours and characteristic melodic invention. Accompanying Jan Mracek are the Czech Philharmonic under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, a world-famous conductor with a deep affinity for Czech music. Suk's Fantasy is paired with two early Romantic works with the soloist accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. Franz Schubert's enchanting Rondo in A major for Violin and Strings blends melodic grace, elegance, and immediacy of expression. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy wrote his Concerto in D minor for Violin and Chamber Orchestra at the beginning of his career at just 13 years of age. The work nonetheless exhibits noteworthy compositional assurance, a keen sense of form, and confident handling of the solo part. In all three compositions, Jan Mracek shows himself to be a performer combining technical brilliance with musical intelligence, stylistic sensitivity, and natural musicianship, and he is able to capture the individual character of each work.

The most comprehensive set ever dedicated to the music of a neglected Italian Romantic, reissuing modern performances which have been recognised for their sensitivity and dynamism. As a one-time pupil of Franz Liszt, winning admiration from Richard Wagner at an early stage in his career, Giovanni Sgambati pursued a vocation outside the mainstream of 19th-century Italian music. Rather than opera, he was drawn above all to Germanic instrumental models of the concerto, quartet and symphony, prefiguring in this way the music of Martucci and Respighi as they sought to reclaim those models within an Italian tradition. Another of his successors, Alfredo Casella, paid warm tribute to him as a pioneer: 'The work of Sgambati, is of real importance in musical history it was he, at all events, who pointed the way which Italian composers are now treading in ever greater numbers, with growing confidence, and with increasing success.' Particularly notable in this set is the inclusion of the third and last of Sgambati's symphonies. The First and Second have attracted recordings elsewhere, but under the direction of Francesco Attardi, who has made modern editions of several Sgambati works, the Third is revealed as a powerful symphonic statement in five movements and three parts - in this regard, if in few others, resembling Mahler's Fifth, and taking marriage for it's programmatic theme. There is a nobility of utterance to the Third which makes a striking contrast with the blood and thunder of the G minor Piano Concerto, as well as with the intricately worked counterpoint of the Nonet for strings and the two Piano Quintets. Sgambati was agile in both mind and technique, adapting his idiom to his genres. Any listener hungry for out-of-the-way Romantic rarities will find rich rewards in this new, super-budget collection. In previous Fanfare magazine reviews, it was noted that 'Gaia Federica Caporiccio plays with a winsome freshness.' 'Caramiello's performance is more ruminative, less frenetic... this is highly recommended.' In reviewing the chamber music: 'I find Brilliant's newer recording much more to my liking.'