GRAMMY Award-winning tenor Nicholas Phan's thoughtful and probing recital program Fellow Citizens delves into stories of immigration and migration through compositional voices ranging from the 19th century to the present day. Nick explains, 'The 'wanderer' has been a trope at the centre of song repertoire since the advent of the art form fostered by travelling troubadours; through the migrant journeymen protagonists of Schubert, Mahler, and their contemporaries; to today's itinerant singer-songwriters.' Fellow Citizens, with Nick's fellow GRAMMY Award winner pianist Myra Huang, is bookended by works of composers who migrated during their lifetimes. The album opens with 'God Bless America,' Irving Berlin's musical prayer of thanksgiving to the nation that gave him refuge as a child fleeing pogroms in Russia. In the closing set of songs are by Robert Owens and Florence Price, each of whom followed the path of America's Great Migration in the twentieth century, whilst Rebecca Clarke's relocation to the United States was prompted by the Second World War. Songs by British-American composer Rebecca Clarke and British composer Errollyn Wallen CBE, alongside works by Franz Schubert and Ralph Vaughan Williams, explore the act of traveling from one place to another. Folk-song arrangements by Bela Bartók and Antonín Dvorak - both of whom spent extended periods in America - sit alongside an arrangement of the folk-gospel tune Poor Wayfaring Stranger by Ohio-born composer Steven Mark Kohn. Ruth Crawford Seeger's striking setting of Chinese-American poet and actor Hsi Tseng Tsiang's Chinaman, Laundryman, is juxtaposed with Schubert's expansive setting of Franz von Schober's poem romanticising the figure of the homeless wanderer as a kind of eternal pilgrim. Mohammed Fairouz's setting of W. H. Auden's poem, Refugee Blues, recounts the plight of Jewish refugees during World War II, who found themselves denied entry at nearly every port as they sought to escape the Holocaust. The title track comes from a song by Chicago-based composer Eric Malmquist, an eloquent setting of Carl Sandburg's poem of the same name. The world premiere recording of Shawn Okpebholo's cycle, The Beautiful, responds to Sandburg's poem, meditating on the question of who are our fellow citizens as Americans, through settings of poems by Margaret Noodin, Carl Sandburg, Claude McKay, and Tsitsi Jaji. Booklet art features historical images of immigrants passing through Angel and Ellis Island, as well as scenes from the Great Migration. In the year of America250, Fellow Citizens reflects on two enduring narratives in American history: one that asserts America is for Americans and another that celebrates the country as a Nation of Immigrants.

Star conductor Herbert von Karajan is best known today for his studio recordings. However, although as a media pioneer he recognised the technical possibilities for creating recordings, he always considered the live concert to be the ideal. The radio recordings with the Berliner Philharmoniker, which were made in Berlin between 1953 and 1969 and which we present to you in this edition - mostly as first releases - represent an exciting paradox in this respect: they are snapshots that capture the spontaneity of the live performance, the magic of the unique musical moment. Never before has it been possible to experience Karajan the live artist and his joint work with the Berliner Philharmoniker as vividly as in this comprehensive edition.

Benjamin Günst makes his GENUIN debut with 'Submergence'-a musical deep dive between light and darkness. The German Music Competition prize winner presents an ambitious and thoughtfully conceived program. From the rhapsodic sounds of Enescu and the Baroque mysticism of Biber to Bartók's 'Sonata for Solo Violin', rarely recorded in it's original version with microtonal intervals, the violin reveals all it's many facets. Works for violin and piano are set alongside solo works, while lyrical passages alternate with moments of breathtaking virtuosity. Together with his piano partner Martin Klett, Benjamin Günst spans centuries of violin music in a fascinating musical arc.

The final volume of this groundbreaking Thomas Jensen series encapsulates the series as a whole. New remasterings of rare studio recordings from the 1940s complement first-ever releases for live broadcasts from the 1950s and 60s. The repertoire demonstrates Jensen's excellence as a sympathetic concerto partner; an insightful interpreter of Sibelius; and a devoted advocate for the composers of his native Denmark. Note! ALL are first ever releases and all from unpublished radio broadcasts All the previous volumes are available and in stock.

Bela Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin was premiered 100 years ago, on 27 November 1926. The evening ended in chaos and is regarded as one of the most high-profile theatre scandals, certainly the biggest since the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in Paris a few years earlier. Causing shock among the public - perhaps because there is nothing miraculous in the fairy-tale sense - the work is in Bartok's own words 'hellish with instruments clanging, clattering and blaring'. Today, it's realism, rhythmic melody and harmony still inspire awe. Released to coincide with the centenary of it's premiere, this second album in Cristian Macelaru and WDR Sinfonieorchester's Bartok series pairs the Mandarin with the composer's other major work for orchestra, the Concerto for Orchestra. Unlike the former, the reception was a triumph.

Eugene Ysaye remains best remembered for his 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin: six diverse and contrasted pieces that have kept his name alive across the century since they were written. For the present album, each one of the sonatas was dedicated to a violinist whose style and manner of playing is accordingly reflected through the piece in question. Each work has been situated in the context of music by the performer or artist who inspired it. Written for violin and piano/piano 4-hands, these works are rarely performed. Programmed between each of the sonatas, these works create an intriguing way of listening to the Ysaye's 6 Sonatas for Solo violin. The Ysaye Sonatas, Op. 27, were played on violins made by Philipp Bonhoeffer. All other works were played on the 'Caspar Hauser' violin, made by Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù', c. 1724.

Following her first recording of concertos for Channel Classics (CCS47825), the Franco-Hungarian pianist Suzana Bartal pays tribute to her Hungarian roots with a programme that showcases a variety of styles, from Liszt and his Gypsy influences to Bartok, who, through his campaigns to collect folk songs, immersed himself in folk and peasant music. Erno Dohnanyi's Ruralia Hungarica, composed in 1923, is more post-Romantic in style, although the composer himself also occasionally turned to folk music.

The only violin concerto written by Richard Strauss, at just 18 years old, is a beautiful, energetic, brilliantly structured work with so many clues and features of his later style., says Alena Baeva. With her long-standing collaborator Paavo Jarvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, she has found the ideal partners to record this relatively rarely performed concerto, as well as another early masterpiece, Bartok's First Violin Concerto, which is essentially a love letter to the violinist Stefi Geyer, nine years his junior. The 'Stefi theme' (D - F? - A - C?) forms the basis of the first movement but she never played it, as she broke up with him a few days before he finished his concerto... Bartok's First Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra rounds completes this programme. Just a few days after it's premiere, the composer travelled to Bremen for his next concert in the Glockensaal, where, 94 years later, this recording was made.

Folklore takes the listener on a musical journey throughout 19th- and 20th-century France, Georgia, Hungary, and Spain. Through different styles and soundscapes, the compositions are united by the spirit of folk traditions and national character, as well as personal memories of the performers-Swiss-French cellist Christoph Croisé and Georgian pianist Ana Bakradze. Works originally conceived for their instrumental combination sit alongside transcriptions that fit their sound world like a glove, a testament to the popularity of all the music on this album. Siete Canciones Populares Españolas, a set of seven traditional Spanish songs by Manuel de Falla, is his most-arranged composition and among his most popular. Béla Bartók's Six Romanian Folk Dances, originally composed for solo piano, were drawn from melodies the composer recorded of folk musicians singing in the countryside of his Hungarian homeland. Hungarian influences infuse Pablo de Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs), originally scored for violin and orchestra. Sulkhan Tsintsadze's Five Pieces on Georgian Folk Themes evoke childhood memories for pianist Ana, especially the fourth, a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her. The most substantial work on the album, Robert Schumann's Fünf Stücke i'm Volkston (Five Pieces in Folk Style), conjures the harmonies and rhythms of folk music. French national character imbues Nadia Boulanger's Trois pièces (Three Pieces) and works by her teacher Gabriel Fauré: his elegant Sicilienne-originally penned for orchestra but frequently adapted for cello and piano-and his ever-popular miniature "Après un rêve" (After a Dream) from his Trois Mélodies (Three Melodies). When asked about their own connections to this music and what they wish for the listener, Christoph and Ana agree: "Above all, joy! We share a love for the roots in these pieces and the inspiration they provided to the composers. For this album, we've selected our favourite miniatures. Some are well known, others are more personal, but they all connect to the spirit of folk traditions in some way. It's about the lasting pleasure of connecting through music we love."

Greek-Russian pianist Sasha Stychkina, born in December 2003 in Moscow into a family of musicians and filmmakers, is the youngest finalist and winner in the history of the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris in November 2019. Today she presents her first recital, recorded at the Teldex studio in Berlin under the artistic direction of her teacher, the charismatic and renowned pianist Kirill Gerstein. A decidedly varied programme-Weber, Bartok, Ravel, Chopin, Liszt-it is by turns virtuosic, dance-like and spiritual. Sasha Stychkina also introduces us to a little-known composer, Alexei Vladimirovich Stanchinsky (1888-1914), a mystical figure, considered mad - he spent a year in a psychiatric hospital - who drowned at the age of twenty-six. A student of Taneyev, encouraged by Scriabin, and introduced to Tolstoy, the composer nevertheless had a bright future ahead of him. The Five Preludes (1907-1912, published posthumously in 1928), chosen by Sasha Stychkina, are particularly evocative and visionary.

Music as ritual: On their debut GENUIN album, the internationally acclaimed piano duo Pisareva-Tchaidze presents three landmark works of early modernism. Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps" - a piece that has stood at the heart of their repertoire for fifteen years - is set alongside Debussy's "epigraphes antiques" and Bartok's "Two Pictures". Written within the same turbulent historical moment shortly before the First World War, these compositions reflect a time of profound cultural upheaval. The album explores the interplay between them - their archaic energy, their rhythmic vitality, and their dialogue between past and present. The duo's finely calibrated ensemble playing brings striking rhythmic precision and luminous clarity of sound to these works.

This album brings together three landmark works for string orchestra from the 20th century by Béla Bartók, Paul Hindemith, and Manuel Castillo, performed by Camerata Gala under the direction of Alejandro Muñoz. The programme offers a compelling and well-balanced journey through three highly individual and stylistically "unclassifiable" voices, each representing a distinct historical and aesthetic context while remaining firmly outside rigid compositional schools. Bartók's Divertimento for Strings, one of his last works composed in Europe, blends neoclassical clarity with the rhythmic vitality and modal language of Hungarian folk music, resulting in a score of striking energy, expressive depth, and technical brilliance. Hindemith's Fünf Stücke, Op. 44 No. 4, written within the framework of Gebrauchsmusik, stands out for it's formal precision, contrapuntal craftsmanship, and pedagogical intent, while maintaining a strong and unmistakable musical personality. The programme concludes with Cuatro cuadros de Murillo by Manuel Castillo, a work of profound spirituality and refined orchestral colour, inspired by the religious iconography of the Sevillian painter and a cornerstone of the Spanish repertoire for string orchestra. Recorded at the Auditorio del Rectorado of the University of Córdoba, this release presents a thoughtfully curated programme of major interest to general audiences, specialists, programmers, and advocates of 20th-century string repertoire.

Giovanni Antonini and Sheng-Fang Chiu form a leading recorder duo who enjoy exploring varied and unexpected repertoires. This album is named after a piece composed by Giovanni Sollima in 2024: it pays tribute to William Byrd and combines the tenor recorder with the sopranino recorder, the perfect imitator of birdsong. This programme spans the ages, from the art of diminution and improvisation in the 15th century to Bartók's duets from the 1930s-originally composed for two violins-via the refined duets of Jacques Hotteterre in the 18th century and a sonata by Telemann from 1727. Don't miss Nuovo ricercare No. 4 (1973) by Amico Dolci, child prodigy of the flute and son of the great sociologist and pacifist Danilo Dolci. The two instrumentalists have mischievously chosen to highlight this quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet: '[playing the recorder] is as easy as lying: control these holes with your fingers and thumb, blow with your mouth, and it will produce the most eloquent music...'

Erling Bloch He was born into a home where artistic matters held pride of place. His father was a painter and at the same time extremely interested in music; therefore, a musical education was a wholly natural thing for the young Erling. Already at the age of seven he received violin tuition and was made familiar with chamber music through the cellist Emil Robert Hansen, the brother of the pianist Agnes Adler, whose piano trio was to be of great significance for him. He entered the conservatoire at the age of fifteen, where already in 1922 he gave his début concert, and only one year later became a member of The Royal Danish Orchestra. Here he was active until 1954, when teaching steadily began to take up more of his time. He had taught at the conservatoire since 1946 and became a professor there in 1949. Here he was held in affection and admired by his pupils, and was musically a central force at the conservatoire until he had to retire at the age of seventy. After his retirement, he continued as an examiner. I met him repeatedly for many years at The Royal Academy of Music, where I was a member of the staff. He was always friendly, attentive, and witty-in short, a person whom we always looked forward to meeting.

Ex Nihilo brings together a diverse palette of music into one continuous flow. Ligeti's Musica Ricercata forms the spine of the programme, interwoven with 20th-century works that resonate with it and new interludes by Brecht Valckenaers. Together, they trace a lineage of invention-exploring how composers reimagine their musical language and the piano itself ex nihilo, "from nothing."

Regarded as one of the finest interpreters of classical and romantic repertoire, Imogen Cooper is internationally renowned for her virtuosity and lyricism. Dame Imogen writes: 'It has taken many years for me to perceive the last three sonatas by Beethoven as the evolving journey I now feel them to be. A combination of wariness of Op. 109 and overawe of Op. 111 kept me solely concentrated on Op. 110, which I can hardly regret. Nor do I regret thereby coming late in life to Opp. 109 and 111. Having come to see the shortcomings of my perception as surmountable, I found that the joys and riches of these wonderful works presented themselves with much more vivid colours than had I tussled with them whilst I was tussling with myself. The case was, incidentally, similar with the "Diabelli" Variations, Op. 120, which I finally approached and embraced in my sixties, with crystal clarity of intention and unadulterated joy. Now it would be hard for me to play any of the last three sonatas alone, so potent is the journey from first to last. And how privileged my hands feel, having wondered and wandered in the heavenly heights of the last pages of Op. 111, to travel down the keyboard and bring this astonishing last sonata, and indeed the whole body of thirty-two sonatas, to a close, with a quiet chord of C major - no long note value, no fermata. Just silence.'

Ciocarlia: Did you say The Lark? The Romanian lark - aside from being gentle, is also the musical symbol of the Romanian people through it's famously beloved folk song. In this album, with the fragrance of childhood memories, pianist Dana Ciocarlie invites the listener on a journey through all the regions of Romania, each with it's distinctive rhythms. Composers such as Enescu, Bartok, Lipatti, and Paul Constantinescu, under her fingers, inspire a desire to sing and dance with irresistible joy and a touch of nostalgia, like larks soaring straight towards the sun.

Bartók, for me, is truly one of the most important composers, on a par with Beethoven and Mozart." In our interview about the piano works on this album, Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon constantly expressed deep admiration, a keen understanding of this music, and a strong affinity with the composer's personality. For this musician, bringing Bartók closer to the audience as a person and an artist is a labour of love. "I grew up with his music. It feels like a mother tongue to me. And I'm interested in everything he wrote, from the earliest works to the late ones. It's so important to see the traditions he came from and to understand how he found his voice as a composer." Várjon notes that Bartók was fascinated by the simplicity and sincerity of the people who sang these songs to him. Those two traits probably corresponded with Bartók's own personality as an artist and a human being. "When I look at photos of him, what I see is a simple, sincere man; there seems to be nothing false or hypocritical in his character. He also seems highly vulnerable. Bartók spoke slowly, quite naturally, but not much. He never tried to put on a show to win his audience's favour. He was truly an authentic person. At the same time, he had the energy and temperament of a volcano rumbling inside him - an energy he harnessed with an astounding amount of sheer discipline. The result was a high degree of fascinating, unresolved tension. Bartók, like Schubert, is one of the composers I find the most moving.

After falling in love with the quartets of Britten and Bartók, we developed a long-standing desire to record these masterpieces. For our debut CD Longing we chose their first quartets, as well as Webern's first string quartet work Langsamer Satz. All three remarkable works resonate with a profound and unmistakable sense of longing. We felt a sense of kinship with these composers as they, like us, were still discovering their distinct style and identity when creating these works. In Langsamer Satz, Webern beautifully showcases the height of longing for love in the romantic 19th century. Bartók continues this romantic idiom and goes on to develop the new sounds of the early 20th century, a period from which we draw so much of our own passions. Finally, Britten continues to explore the sound and identity of the 20th century in his own distinctive colour palette. These works not only keep us on the edge of our seats, but also express a beautiful longing, one which we recognize in ourselves, and one we want to share with our listeners.

Are 'hits' exclusively associated with modern pop music? Popular successes have roots much deeper in the history of music, spanning various genres and contexts, including music created and shared in private settings, such as homes, as well as in street performances. Certain compositions' extraordinary popularity is attested by widely distributed, copied, and repeatedly republished scores. The innumerable arrangements for other instruments also attest to the extent of the phenomenon. Following the success of their 2002 album Dvorak (LDV101), and once again in association with the Czech instrumental arranger Jiri Kabat, the Talich Quartet invites us to explore Mitteleuropa's folk repertoire. An invitation to dance. Irresistible!

Andris Nelsons and the Wiener Philharmoniker explore the brilliance of Bela Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 2 and the emotional depths of Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Passionate but restrained, Andris Nelsons conducts both masterpieces with superb clarity and precision: Mahler's famous Adagietto unfolds with "unreal shimmer and dark glow" (BR Klassik). Yefim Bronfman is the soloist in one of the most difficult piano concertos ever written and impresses with "impeccable technique, expressive power, and a touch of swing" (Der Standard). The concert is part of the Wiener Philharmoniker's Mahler cycle with Andris Nelsons.

Andris Nelsons and the Wiener Philharmoniker explore the brilliance of Bela Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 2 and the emotional depths of Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Passionate but restrained, Andris Nelsons conducts both masterpieces with superb clarity and precision: Mahler's famous Adagietto unfolds with "unreal shimmer and dark glow" (BR Klassik). Yefim Bronfman is the soloist in one of the most difficult piano concertos ever written and impresses with "impeccable technique, expressive power, and a touch of swing" (Der Standard). The concert is part of the Wiener Philharmoniker's Mahler cycle with Andris Nelsons.

This album is inspired by the fantastic physicality and variety of dance forms in which composers from Granados to Shostakovich excelled. There are some hidden gems as well as pieces that will be familiar to all - and they have the novelty, as transcriptions, of all having been 'stolen' from the original. These arrangements are creative, fun and often virtuosic. -Includes Shostakovich's 'Three Fantastic Dances' released in the composer's 50th death anniversary year -Includes Ravel 'Piece en forme de habanera' released in the composer's 150th birth anniversary year

The three works on this recording bear witness to the changes that took place at the dawn of musical modernism. The reappraisal and reinterpretation of traditional musical genres and innovations led to new ways of organising and addressing the harmonic, melodic, timbral and rhythmic elements of music. Polish composer Karol Szymanowski developed a highly personal musical language that prioritises tone colour, an approach that is perfectly suited to the triptych Mythes, inspired by legends from ancient Greece. Here he developed a new mode of expression, a fusion of the violin and the piano into a single entity with the use of extended violin techniques. The Hungarian Bela Bartok assimilated Szymanowski's contribution and composed his two sonatas for violin and piano in quick succession at the beginning of the 1920s. These two works, as daring as they are demanding, skilfully blend the influence of contemporary composers such as Debussy and Schoenberg with elements of Central European folklore. Frank Peter Zimmermann, whose recent recording dedicated to Bartok's two Rhapsodies and Stravinsky's Violin Concerto (BIS-2657) has received international critical acclaim, performs these landmark works with pianist Dmytro Choni, his regular partner since 2023.

The three Bartok concertos - Tomas Vrana's exciting debut Bartok as an uncompromising individualist, Bartok as an architect, Bartok as a poet - that could be a simplified characterisation of his three piano concertos; three works that capture in a surprisingly fitting way the stages of the composer's life, from the discovery of his own musical language to refinement and finally his acceptance of the difficult end to his life's journey. The calm and peaceful mood of the most frequently played Third Piano Concerto contrasts strikingly with the relentlessly tempestuous struggle of the First and the lively vitality of the Second. To this day, however, extreme technical difficulty hinders the more frequent performing of these works. The playing of the young piano virtuoso Tomas Vrana, joined on the recording by the Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava and the Hungarian conductor Gabor Kali, definitely goes well beyond mere technical mastery in the works. His debut received high praise from Jean-Efflam Bavouzet: "Apart from it being quite rare to see a pianist so dedicated to such difficult pieces, it is even less common to see a young musician mastering them with such musical intelligence and deep knowledge of the orchestra score coupled with a great sense of rhythm and a masterful technique!" Tomas Vrana also exhibited similar sensitivity and mastery in his use of language - he accompanied his recording with an interesting text for the CD booklet.

Sueye Park is no stranger to solo violin recitals. After her recording of the Paganini Caprices (BIS-2282) and a recital entitled Journey through a Century (BIS-2492), both critically acclaimed, she brings us another solo project, Echoes of Exile, an undertaking that finds it's raison d'être in today's very turbulent times. Park offers us different perspectives on the topic of exile with works composed between the 1920s and 1950s, by great composers who left their country as a result of political circumstances as well as by others who went into their own inner exile. Two pieces by composers who left their native lands for artistic reasons, Enescu and Ysaye, frame three substantial and very contrasting works by composers forced into exile, either because their existence was threatened or because of a feeling of alienation within their respective countries. The works of Bartok and Ben-Haim show composers who, in their longing for their homelands, succeeded not only in emphasising the value of their culture even more strongly, but also in anchoring it within the environment into which they had entered. Zimmermann's sonata, with it's unique expressive language, evokes the concerns of a young composer in the devastated Germany of the post-war period.

Goran Stevanovich is considered one of the leading accordionist of the present day?. He grew up in Bosnia-Herzegovina and began his accordion studies there?. His debut album "Sarajevo" is a musical portrait of a fascinating town, showing him as an ambassador not only of sevdah music?. From Max Richter to Bryce Dessner to his own compositions, an unmatched variety of styles and atmospheres can be heard, influenced by Minimal as well as classical East European music?.

(summary) "Ellis Island" or the sound odyssey of Julia Hamos, who examines in this very first album her family history, American and Hungarian, while displaying a longing for adventure. A poetic journey that takes us from the Hungary of Bela Bartok and Gyorgy Kurtag to the gates of New York and the recreations of Charles Mingus and Meredith Monk. (complete blurb) "Ellis Island" is an odyssey in sound, the story of a pianist with dual origins, Julia Hamos, who, in this very first album, looks at her family roots, American and Hungarian, and displays a longing for adventure. She looks towards the Hungary of Bartok and Kurtag, engaging in a dialogue with the memory of her ancestors from Transylvania. Originally from the same region as Kurtag, her maternal grandfather knew Ligeti as a child. This journey with it's haunting poetry will lead us also to New York, the pianist's first home, a place of hope and inspiration, which always feeds her creativity. Myself When I Am Real by Charles Mingus bursts forth, a fabulous moment, both poetic and pianistic, the zenith of this unusual and personal journey where the pianist, with a mellow yet clear sound palette, will have brought together in a fluid gesture the waking dreams of Schubert (Ungarische melodie, 1824), the very earthy and despair-tinged folklore of Bartok (Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs) and the torrential and enigmatic explosions of early Kurtag (8 Pieces Op. 3). In this eminently personal journey, however, there is no narcissistic temptation. Because if the young musician plays, she above all wants to speak to us, with modesty, but not without determination. Her piano assembles words, choreographs rhythms, and also deploy it's range of pastels colours. This is demonstrated by the subtle selection of Jatekok, where the piano will embody a thousand faces, in turn itself (Capriccioso), percussion (Play with Overtones), harp (Perpetuum mobile) or violin duet with viola (Tears). The two cycles of Bartok, with their characters so ironically sketched (Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs) and their sparkling rhythms (6 Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm), are no less alive. From the pianist's supple playing, from her silky legato, final streaks of melancholy will often escape. In all respects, "Ellis Island" is a fascinating experience - that of an artist who has found her voice.

Young violinist Gabriela Balcerek, only just at the beginning of her career, confirms her great talent and natural musicality with her already second album recorded with the Sinfonia Viva orchestra. The repertoire of the album consists of stylistically diverse pieces, from Romanticism to the present; moreover, they represent the most famous violin and chamber miniatures. These are compositions by Polish and foreign composers, in which stylized folklore is intertwined with truly Romantic passion. Arranged by Tomasz Radziwonowicz for solo violin and string orchestra, they gained a new, fresh sound, in which the dense harmonic structure and parts of individual instruments approached as if they were solo instruments draw attention. Young violinist Gabriela Balcerek, only just at the beginning of her career, confirms her great talent and natural musicality with her already second album recorded with the ensemble. This is a cheerful album, at which the listener will smile more than once, following it's title. The joy of love, but also of youth and of celebrating music among artists who share energy and passion, can be heard in every sound.