US a cappella sextet Lyyra's debut album "Rising" is a captivating project showcasing stunning repertoire arranged for upper voices. "Rising" is not bound by genre or style, but revolves around themes of love, identity, and togetherness. The six women of Lyyra come from different musical and personal backgrounds, each bringing with them their unique style. When joined together, they create lush, chill-inducing harmonies, and a long-lasting impression. Including pop hits, Americana, jazz, traditional choral, and new compositions, highlights include a cover of Billie Eilish's iconic "What Was I Made For"; Simon & Garfunkel's "America"; and jazz standard "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".

Composer-pianist Riopy returns with his fifth album "Be Love" - his first key music release since 2023's "Thrive". The 12 track album is comprised of 6 cinematic piano-instrumental tracks - a return to his roots of cinematic solo piano - and 6 more expansive tracks where Riopy experiments with his voice: from meditative whispers to raw and emotive lyricism. The composer-instrumentalist has utilised numerous ways to produce sound, just never his own voice. "I had this compulsion, this need to use my voice, because I think it's one of the biggest fears I've had through my life. It felt right. I needed to do this. "Be Love" was recorded on Riopy's dream instrument, the Steinway Spirio. It was mixed by GRAMMY-winning producer Oli Jacobs (Peter Gabriel, Lana Del Rey, Van Morrison) who has masterfully entwined Riopy's evocative vocals with his delicate piano tracks.

Produced during the astonishingly fruitful year before the composer's death aged 31, the Impromptus are short, lyrical miniatures of contrasting mood and character which create a musical narrative whose imaginative reach transports the listener far beyond the 19th-century drawing room. They have been core components of Eric Lu's repertoire for several years, but the pianist decided to wait before recording them. "I have a real sense of a journey with these works, in particular with Op.90, having lived with them intensely in preparation, on stage and, finally, in the recording studio," he says. "For me, the Impromptus are some of the greatest jewels in the piano literature. They are magnificent, deep pieces of music, and the very essence of Schubert."

Pianists Bertrand Chamayou and Leif Ove Andsnes join forces to record Schubert's magnificent Fantasia in F minor, presenting a landmark Schubert 4 Hands album. This release arrives 40 years after Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia's legendary CBS recording and 60 years after Benjamin Britten and Sviatoslav Richter's historic Aldeburgh Festival performance. The duo delivers breathtaking interpretations that could establish this recording as the new reference for Schubert's Fantasia. The album pairs the Fantasia with other Schubert four-hand works composed in 1828, the year of the composer's death, offering a deeply intimate and historically informed program.

In Bertrand Chamayou's words, Ravel Fragments is "a personal contribution to the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of a composer who has been with me constantly since I was a child". An album of solo piano music, it ranges from Ravel's own transcriptions of La Valse and extracts from Daphnis et Chlo� - both, of course, spectacular orchestral works - to Chamayou's own transcriptions of vocal works by the composer, and to pieces that pay tribute to Ravel. Five of these are by composers of the past - Arthur Honegger, Joaqu�n Nin, Alexandre Tansman, Xavier Montsalvatge and Ricardo Vi�es (the pianist who championed the music of Ravel, Debussy and other major figures in the early 20th century), and three by composers of our own time - Betsy Jolas, Salvatore Sciarrino and Fr�d�ric Durieux.

David Fray stands out as one of today's most distinctive French pianists, widely acclaimed for his profound interpretations of Bach. Each of his recordings is considered a major event, making this new release all the more anticipated, as it marks his return after several years of silence. This new album features masterpieces from Rameau to Scarlatti, including lesser-known composers like Royer, with a strong focus on Bach. The repertoire includes original keyboard works as well as piano transcriptions by legendary pianists such as Siloti, Kempff, Busoni, and Stradal. Additionally, the album also includes the world premiere recording of Monsaingeon's arrangement for piano of Bach's Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003: Andante.

Rising young virtuoso pianist with a profound musical insight. One of Gramophone magazine's piano experts, Bryce Morrison has written: "Levanon's daunting technique allows him the fullest imaginative freedom... Already he is liberated from the cares and concerns of other lesser pianists, free to do virtually anything." This project is part of an ongoing Liszt cycle (Sonate B minor in 2022/ Piano Concertos 1 & 2 + Totentanz in 2024) highlighting Levanon's affinity for the composer's virtuosic and poetic writing. Liszt's Transcendental Etudes are a monumental set of twelve virtuosic and expressive piano �tudes showcasing Liszt's technical brilliance. A high point in the Romantic repertoire, they are considered as some of the most difficult pieces for piano.

Gautier Capu�on's cello becomes the voice of the Earth in an inspired album of world premiere recordings: Ga�a. Uniting seventeen world-premiere works by sixteen contemporary composers, this project - which takes it's name from the Greek goddess of Earth and mother of all life - sets out to explore humanity's relationship to nature through a multifaceted lens, drawing from different musical genres, aesthetics, and cultural influences as well as the formidable contrasts of the natural world. The recordings showcase diverse new works by innovative contemporary composers, from luminaries in the field - Max Richter, Ludovico Einaudi, Joe Hisaishi, Bryce Dessner - to brilliant emerging talents. In Gautier's words: "Ga�a is an album dedicated to the Earth, inspired by it's beauty, fragility, and strength."

From Etienne Gara: "This album is a beautiful patchwork of short pieces that cannot be more different one from the other and span from the Baroque era to tomorrow. Think of it as an Advent calendar for listeners, where each piece opens a new window into a musical universe all on it's own. On this album, you'll find Classical music canons, film-music from Pulp Fiction and Psycho, miniatures by Philip Glass, and small curiosities written just for us that help bridge the gap between Classical music and today's diverse audiences. Delirium Musicum and Cabinet of Curiosities both carry that mischievous DNA that transcends borders and brings the excitement that unapologetic passion and commitment trigger. In other words, you have here a delirious concert where everyone will find something they know, something they love, and something that will trigger their curiosity."

With Pianosong, Alexandre Tharaud pays homage to the great French singers and songwriters of the 20th century (Brel, Piaf, Barbara, Gainsbourg, Trenet, Ferr�, Berger) by transposing their songs into a new pianistic and symphonic language. This is not a cover album, nor a tribute in the conventional sense. It is a collection of musical metamorphoses, through improvisation, arrangement, orchestration, and interpretation.

Thibaut Garcia is one of the most acclaimed classical guitarists of his generation, praised for a playing style that combines virtuosity and poetic sensitivity. Born from a deep artistic friendship with guitarist Antoine Morin�re, this album offers a fresh take on Bach's masterpiece Goldberg Variations, now reimagined for two guitars. The arrangement, from Garcia and Morini�re themselves, is the result of a full year of work during which, quoting the artists, they focused on "how to adapt the keyboard work for two guitars, while preserving the illusion of a single performer". Twin guitars helped in their artistic endeavour: the album is recorded on two guitars cut from the same tree, and realized especially for the project by French luthier Hugo Cuvillier.

RECORDINGS FROM 1996-2021. A flautist with contagious enthusiasm, tirelessly exploring the repertoire of his instrument, Emmanuel Pahud offers here a formidable anthology of the flute concerto - a musical genre celebrating it's three centuries of existence today. And the story is not over, his exceptional talent continually inspiring composers around the world.

Gelosia! (Jealousy!), Philippe Jaroussky's latest project with the instrumentalists of Artaserse, takes it's dramatic name from two solo cantatas receiving world premiere recordings. Programmed beside cantatas by Vivaldi, Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti, they are by the Neapolitan Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) and the Venetian Baldassare Galuppi (1706-1785). Though composed some 35 years apart, both cantatas set the same text, 'La Gelosia', written by the prolific Pietro Metastasio. "The cantata da camera or secular cantata, was an incredibly popular genre in the 18th century," explains Philippe Jaroussky. "Written for a solo singer, it often portrays a man or woman going through the torments of love and depicts the character's various states of mind... Cantatas of this kind served, I believe, as a kind of personal diary for composers. Being away from opera, with it's more academic demands, they could write as they wanted, completely free to express their feelings."

From Irish ballads to stirring film scores (The Last of Mohicans, Titanic), via The Cranberries, U2, Enya, Sting, The Pogues, Secret Garden, The Corrs and more, Camille Berthollet brings us 16 new tracks on her latest album. Accompanied by the talented musician and arranger Johan Daalgard, as well as a host of instrumental collaborators, she celebrates the Celtic world in a refined style on violin and cello. Recorded in an ancient monastery in Brittany, this programme reveals the intimate, emotion-filled dialogue between the artist and her instruments.

World premiere recording. Mozart's magnificent setting of the Requiem Mass needs no introduction. One of his last works and a landmark of choral music, it is paired on this album with a new and complementary work by the pianist and composer Fazil Say: Mozart ve Mevlana, an homage to Mozart's Requiem, based on the texts of 13th-century mystic Mevlana Rumi. Introducing Mozart ve Mevlana, Fazil Say says: "Mevlana is a great philosopher from the Eastern world - the Orient. I'm from Turkey. I thought: 'Why not unite East and West in love and friendship through texts from the great philosopher Mevlana and quotations from the music of a composer of genius like Mozart in a fluid musical space?... I play all Mozart's works for piano and I have recorded them all. So Mozart plays a very special role in my life... Mozart's music is the music of humanity. Likewise, Mevlana's words unite people regardless of their religion or belief."

With Songs of Passion, a collection of vocal and instrumental music by John Dowland and Henry Purcell - English composers born nearly a century apart - mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, lutenist Thomas Dunford and Ensemble Jupiter have created a companion to their previous Erato albums, Eternal Heaven, Idylle and Amazone. Dowland is known for his intimate evocations of amorous melancholy in his writing for voice and for lute, while the music of Purcell - the greatest British-born composer of the Baroque era - encompasses a rich diversity of moods and emotions.

On Renaissance, Shani Diluka invites us on a journey through the humanist movement of the Renaissance era. This piano album will focus on two main centres of the Renaissance: Elizabethan and Italian, their legacies, and their impact on the development of classical music in Europe. Repertoire selected from Byrd to Frescobaldi, from Dowland to Monteverdi. Many of the pieces have never been played on the modern piano, yet they come close to the intimate sound of harpsichord, clavichord and harmonics. 'Renaissance' will feature Shani Diluka's transcriptions of Dido's Lament and Monteverdi's delicate S� dolce �' l tormento.

'Consolation was nurtured by my aspiration to create a musical haven, a soothing balm, a ray of hope, a bundle of joy, a room to meditate, a visit back to memory lane, and an unexpected highlight in everyone's life.' Suffering people who often experienced despair and loneliness, are the inspiration behind Alain's writing of Consolation, which he started composing at the end of the pandemic. Lef�vre's music is melodic, like a soothing balm in spite of everything, each of his pieces is a little tableau of life. This is perhaps his most accomplished opus of compositions to date.

Alexandre Desplat is one of the most sought-after composers in the movie business today. He has generated a diverse, enduring cult fanbase of movie-music enthusiasts of all ages, and increasingly is bringing the art form to live audiences beyond the realm of cinema, dedicating more time to performing and conducting his own music with world-class orchestras for sellout crowds in concert halls and opera houses in Vienna, Shanghai, and beyond. Paris - Hollywood captures some of the brightest treasures from four decades of movie-music magic by one of the great modern masters of film-score wizardry. Desplat conducts the Orchestre de Paris in new arrangements of music from 15 of his best-known film scores.

Sir Simon Rattle has long been a passionate advocate for British music, championing it's rich heritage and contemporary voices throughout his career. As music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, he brought English orchestral music to global prominence. This collection traces that journey-from the romanticism of Elgar and the pastoral beauty of Vaughan Williams to the modern brilliance of Thomas Ad�s-showcasing the emotional depth and evolving identity of English music through Rattle's vivid interpretations.

The album's title Heimat is the German word for 'homeland'. Kenji Miura was born in Japan and studied in London and Berlin, where he has now lived for 12 years. With Heimat he explores the concept of a musical 'chosen home'. Heimat comprises Beethoven's 'Appassionata' Sonata; Schumann's Kinderszenen, and Brahms's Seven Fantasies. As Miura says: "In finding my way into German music, I also found my way deeper into the place I now call 'Heimat'. Acclaimed by Pianist Magazine as one of the '5 top pianists to keep an eye on in 2023', Miura recently joined the faculty at the Hochschule f�r Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, where he passionately mentors the next generation of pianists

This is as fine a recorded account... as I've heard for some time, both in terms of Lahav Shani's conception of the music and it's realisation on the orchestra. It's a performance that grows movement by movement, stable of pulse, yet flexible and free-flowing within the boundaries of the larger whole." Gramophone was full of praise for the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra's recording, released in 2023, of Bruckner's epic Symphony No 7. Now the Dutch orchestra and it's chief conductor have recorded Bruckner's Symphony No 5. As Lahav Shani told Gramophone in an interview devoted to Bruckner: "His music has a sense not only of looking back and encompassing the history of music, but also very much looking forward and seeing the future... One can talk about Bruckner's relationship with religion, with God, and with spirituality - and perhaps this has the most influence on the atmosphere of the music - but there are also beautiful melodic lines and a sense of cantabile and continuation... I never try to impose a specific interpretation... I much prefer to let the music flow and develop and change... There is no right or wrong. Bruckner is not here for us to ask if he meant this or if he meant something else. He wrote music that is so much beyond these things, music that conveys such deep human emotion.

For his debut on Warner Classics, Samoan tenor Pene Pati matches favourite showpiece arias with rarer operatic gems in a programme of Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Gounod and Benjamin Godard. Pati has been called "a revelation... stunning for his generosity of voice, top notes of apparently invincible power, and alluring timbre, " (Forum Op�ra) and praised for his "gleaming, sensuous stream of sound" (San Francisco Chronicle). A singer of glowing lyricism who establishes an immediate rapport with his audience, Pati hopes that the album will leave listeners with a sense of "warmth, tenderness, and the sincerity of storytelling. To me, this is the essence of opera and the reason why I sing." He is joined by conductor Emmanuel Villaume and the Orchestre national Bordeaux Aquitaine.

The King's Singers celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Disney with When you wish upon a star, a joyful album of twenty-five hit songs drawn from the soundtrack of the past century. They are joined by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and a host of guest artists in a programme comprising virtuoso close-harmony arrangements freshly commissioned from an international line-up of composers, including John Rutter, Nico Muhly, Alexander L'Estrange, Toby Young, Jim Clements and Jamey Ray. The tracklist embraces songs from nine decades of Disney animation, spanning everything from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Coco (2017) to evoke memories of childhood for listeners of all ages.

Violinist Augustin Hadelich embarks on an American Road Trip, travelling the musical highways and by ways of his adoptive homeland in the company of pianist Orion Weiss. The duo perform works by a melting pot of American composers, writing in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and drawing on a diversity of idioms, influences and inspirations... from European Romanticism to revivalist hymns; from blues and jazz to bluegrass; from the banjo and ukulele to Jimi Hendrix's guitar, and from a little Mexican star to exquisite Japanese carvings. Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ives and John Adams take their place beside Amy Beach, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Eddie South, Howdy Forrester, Manuel M. Ponce and - flying the flag for today's composers along with Adams - Daniel Bernard Roumain and Stephen Hartke. Augustin Hadelich, born in Italy to German parents, moved to the USA at the age of 19 to study at New York's Juilliard School and became an American citizen in 2014. In the words of The Strad magazine, "Hadelich's playing brings together the best qualities of both American and European playing: passion, Polish and coherence, but also thoughtfulness, expressivity and nuance."