An amazing revival of a lost area of African American cultural history: classical music performances from the early part of the 20th century. These souvenirs of the earliest such commercial recording ventures showcase forgotten examples of a great culture's accomplishments. The engineering and re-mastering, along with the exquisitely researched and annotated accompanying booklet are the joint labor of love of the Parnassus triumvirate team of Leslie Gerber, Tim Brooks, and Steve Smolian, making BLACK SWANS in my list, at least one of the top albums of the year.

From the late-Romantic Andante e Allegro con fuoco by Guido Alberto Fano and Dallapiccola's early wartime concerto to the final, much later work by Cristian Carrara, this album provides a welcome overview of the piano concerto in 20th and 21st century Italy. All four works benefit from the playing of Roberto Prosseda, whose talents as a champion of Italian contemporary music and of undiscovered piano music make him the ideal advocate.

Classical Music

Dramatic, highly-colored music from one of the most approachable and individual voices in contemporary music.

Handel’s ever-popular Messiah was recorded live in the superb acoustic of Boston’s Symphony Hall, to mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Handel and Haydn Society, America’s longest-standing performing arts organization. Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742 and the Handel and Haydn Society gave the first complete performance of the work in the USA in 1818. It has been performed annually in Boston as part of the Handel and Haydn Society concert season every year since 1854.

REVIEWS:

In his rendering of the score, Harry Christophers eloquently guides us through the entire oratorio with a steady hand and firm conviction. The tempi are sprightly where they ought to be, even sparkling like jewels at times—but not blazing as if on fire—and are equally slackened when they need to be. Further, the text is not merely declaimed; rather, every word is expressed!

The period instrument orchestra plays each and every note, trill, and ornament to perfection. As one would expect, the soloists are likewise fantastic. Soprano Gillian Keith, countertenor Daniel Taylor, tenor Tom Randle, and baritone Sumner Thompson off er impressive virtuoso contributions.

The chorus’s full-bodied yet accurate ensemble singing perked up these ears from the very first pitch of “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed” all the way through “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” and the mammoth, closing “Amen.”

– Choral Journal

The 11th and final release in The Orlando Consort's comprehensive Machaut survey easily maintains the standards of it's predecessors. The closing couplet of the final track - "Their singing will be sublime / Harmoniously will they render him praise" - might well serve as a motto for The Orlando Consort's achievement, not only in this album but throughout an illustrious career.

Winners of numerous awards, Andr�as Schiff and Dinu Lipatti are world class pianists. Alto is pleased to release famous recordings of the pianists playing Bach, paired together for the first time.

TELEMANN: CANTATAS: NO. 18 A

Polymath Sir Stephen Hough has a growing reputation as a composer of chamber, choral and above all solo piano music with four sonatas and a constellation of dazzling arrangements to his name. This album presents the premiere recording of his first piano concerto, recorded by the pianist with The Hall� under Sir Mark Elder. It's subtitle 'The world of yesterday' deliberately places the work in a broader context of the pianist-virtuosi of yesteryear who composed and performed their own piano concertos as they toured the world.

For the second volume in this series devoted to each new stage in Bach's life, Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants show us how the composer appropriated the usages of the church cantata to his own ends. Borrowing from the French style and reinterpreting the Italian concerto, he left a lasting mark on the genre and blazed a new trail for it.

In this highly original program, Julien Libeer and his partners bring us the smile and the light of Mozart via an absolutely radiant sonata for solo piano, a sonata for violin and piano in which joy triumphs over anxiety, a flamboyant trio from the time of Le nozze di Figaro, to say nothing of the Piano Quartet K478, a rare combination that allows the composer to play around on the frontiers of the concerto and chamber music. All of this in a surprising dramatic progression.

Based at Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York, the world renowned Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys - and their acclaimed director John Scott - offer a new recording of Bach's Motets. The choir is considered by major critics to be the outstanding choral ensemble of the Anglican musical tradition in the U.S. today, and one of the finest in the world. Besides offering a full concert series each year, the choir of 16 men and three dozen boys sings at five weekly principal worship services, preparing an astounding 400 pieces of sacred music a year. This album marks the first release in an ongoing relationship with Resonus Classics over the next few years.

Surprising as it may seem, there has never been a complete recording of Bizet's songs. The formidable team assembled here fills this gap and offers a chance to discover a little-known side of his vocal music, with numerous rarities, early works, alternative versions, and other unpublished pieces compiled by the leading specialists and accompanied by period instruments. This is a richly deserved this tribute on the 150th anniversary of Bizet's death.

Repackaged Boxed Set

Pursuing the 'new practice' introduced by Monteverdi, seventeenth and eighteenth-century composers in the Italian tradition explored a myriad of human emotions, all the more eagerly because lovers generally come in pairs. From Monteverdi to Handel and Vivaldi, Carlo Vistoli and Hugh Cutting vie with each other in virtuosity throughout a program tailor-made for them by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants.

CHORAL MASTERPIECES

Vocal Recital: Wunderlich, Fritz - SCHUMANN, R. / SCHUBERT,

The marvelously affecting Italian Duets have long remained favorites among Handel's oeuvre distinct markers of the influences of the young Saxon's early trips to Rome and studies of the chamber duet master Agostino Steffani. The grand Hamonices Mundi is joined here by rising stars of Baroque singing Gemma Bertagnolli and Susanne Ryden.

This deluxe 4-CD box set from Sony Music brings together the seminal Columbia recordings of Terry Riley, a visionary composer whose influence on minimalist and electronic music continues to ripple through generations. Thoughtfully presented with archival materials, this collection offers an essential document of Riley's most transformative period when the pulse of innovation met the possibilities of high-fidelity sound. This box set is more than a collection of recordings it is a rare window into a time when the avant-garde found a home in major-label studios and groundbreaking artists like Riley were given space to explore uncharted sonic territory. From his mesmeric electric keyboard and saxophone improvisations to his pioneering use of analog tape delay, every track here pulses with the spirit of experimentation. Starting with the original 1968 recording of In C, captured at Columbia's legendary 30th Street Studio, by revered engineer Fred Plaut, the set includes four seminal works by Riley that helped shape not only the minimalist movement but much of the late 20th century avant-garde landscape.

Global cello sensation Hauser returns with Cinema - a sweeping new album of iconic melodies from the silver screen. Bringing his signature romantic flair and expressive cello playing to the world of film music, Hauser curates a stunning collection of timeless movie themes that span generations. From the nostalgic beauty of the "Tara's Theme" from Gone with the Wind to the haunting tenderness of Billie Eilish's Oscar�-winning "What Was I Made For" from Barbie, Cinema captures the emotional essence of some of film's most iconic moments. With richly orchestrated arrangements, Hauser breathes new life into works by the greatest composers in film history John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini, and John Barry as well as beloved ballads like Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" (Spectre) and "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera. The album also features the ultra-romantic theme from An Affair to Remember, a melody rediscovered by a new generation in Sleepless in Seattle. Cinema is more than a tribute it's a reimagining of these classic themes through the voice of the cello, transporting listeners into the heart of each story. With passion, elegance, and cinematic grandeur, Hauser once again redefines the possibilities of his instrument and deepens his connection with audiences around the world.

Classical Music

Vocal Recital: Grummer, Elisabeth - MOZART, W.A. / SCHUBERT,

MASS IN B MINOR

Art and Music: Masters of the Modern Age, Vol. 1 Description CD with full-color, illustrated, explanatory booklet. Edgar Degas (1834-1917) is remembered as the painter of ballet dancers, but the scope of his genius ranged widely. An acute and witty observer, he depicted his native Paris in it's many diverse aspects, often hinting at a social isolation and unease hidden beneath the colorful surface. On this CD, the world of Degas is given a musical perspective with a carefully chosen selection of pieces by the finest composers of his time. Inside, Hugh Griffith provides explanatory notes on his life and musical environment Disc Two Description Paul C�zanne (1839-1906) received almost no recognition until the last years of his life, but is now widely regarded as one of the key figures in the development of modern art. His structural use of color was the starting point for the Fauve painters; his strongly geometric approach to composition led directly to Cubism. On this CD, the world of C�zanne is given a musical perspective with a carefully chosen selection of pieces by the finest composers of his time. Inside, Hugh Griffith provides explanatory notes on his life and musical environment. Disk Three Description During the past 20 years, Arvo P�rt has consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant contemporary composers with a sequence of magnificent sacred choral works. Dating from between 1990 and 2001, the works on this recording exemplify P�rt's mature idiom at it's most harmonically expressive. If Triodion represents his music at it's starkest and most unadorned, Kanon Pokajanen, the composer's largest work after the 1982 St John Passion (Naxos 8.555860), is music of a dark-hued and intensely felt contemplation. P�rt's emotionally-charged Bogor�ditse Dj�vo, is a vibrant tribute to the Virgin Mary. The Elora Festival Singers' recording of P�rt's Berliner Messe can be heard on Naxos 8.557299.

Edvard Grieg and his librettist Bjurnstjerne Bjurnson were both fascinated by a great period in Norway's past: The Viking Age, whose sagas, and fierce conflicts between Christianity and the old Norse religion, inspired all three of Grieg's works recorded here. Landkjenning depicts the moment when Olav Trygvason (960s-1000) and his men sight the Norwegian coast for the first time on their voyage from England to Norway. As King from 995 to 1000, Olav worked single-mindedly to Christianize Norway. Conceived as a true Norwegian national opera, but left unfinished, the three scenes from Olav Trygvason explore pagan rituals and tributes to the Norse gods in anticipation of King Olav's entrance into the pagan temple. Includes the world premiere recording of Edmund Neupert's Resignation orchestrated by Grieg.

Dutch pianist and composer Joep Beving is a leading neo-classical artist, garnering fans worldwide with his warm, contemplative music, which is evident on his 2017 album, Prehension. Pressed on EcoRecord, a sustainable record made from PET instead of PVC and, thanks to an innovative production process, saves up to 85% energy compared to conventional vinyl production, without compromising on sound and product quality. 2-LP set.