Conductor Simon Crawford-Phillips leads the Västerås Sinfonietta on their new concept album; 'Scotland'. The principal work is Mendelssohn's famous 3rd Symphony; the 'Scottish'; coupled with two interesting contemporary works with strong bonds to Scotland: Helen Grime's "Elegiac Inflections"; and Peter Maxwell Davies' 'Strathclyde Concerto No. 10'.

Swedish award-winning percussionist Markus Leoson presents his own and other's arrangements for marimba of favourite composers such as Astor Piazzolla, Erik Satie and J. S. Bach, In addition, two of the Piazzolla pieces are arranged for vibraphone.
Markus Leoson was admitted at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm already at the age of 15, and graduated four years later in 1989. Since then he has performed nationally and internationally as both soloist and as orchestra musician. Besides his activity as a performing artist he is professor at Hochschulzentrum am Horn in Weimar, Germany.

The newly formed Zilliacus Quartet (Cecilia Zilliacus, violin I, Julia-Maria Kretz, violin II, Ylvali Zilliacus, viola, and Kati Raitinen, cello) now release an exclusive album with rare string quartets by Edvard Grieg, Amanda Maier, and Julius Röntgen. It's the first time Julius Röntgen's original manuscript of his completed version of Grieg's F major quartet has been recorded, including Röntgen's coda of the final movement. This CD with romantic string quartets of three close friends is a must for all string quartet lovers!

The Nordic Chamber Orchestra, led by multiple award-winning conductors JoAnn Falletta and Patrik Ringborg, perform orchestral works by multiple award-winning Swedish composer, Andrea Tarrodi.

Tarrodi needs no further introduction in Sweden, and international audiences have also opened their hearts to her accessible, colorful music. In 2020, she was the first Swedish composer ever to receive a commission for the BBC’s renowned Last Night of the Proms.

This new release is a fully loaded album with a unique combo of violin concertos by Johannes Brahms and his contemporary friends, Amanda Maier and Julius Röntgen. Furthermore, the album includes a brand-new Brahms cadenza, written by award-winning Swedish composer, Mats Larsson Gothe. This is the first Swedish studio recording of Brahms’s concerto with one of Sweden’s foremost violinists, Cecilia Zilliacus, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, and renowned Estonian conductor, Kristiina Poska.

”Cecilia is extremely musical and living proof that it’s always possible to pursue unusual ideas” (The Strad, 2018). Over the years, audiences have embraced Zilliacus’ equally tantalizing and warm interpretations of everything from the great classical and Romantic works to contemporary chamber music and collaborations across genres – from the most prominent symphony orchestras, conductors, and composers in Europe to jazz musicians, folk musicians, singer songwriters, and others.

“Art is a field that has always been open to women, and where they have also accomplished a great deal. It can not be denied that whilst women have had success in the performing arts their achievements in the creative arts have not been so illustrious. As for Swedish women in particular they have won great acclaim abroad but always as performers. Consequently many people rush to the assumption that women do not have the ability to create significant works of art. Objectively, there is no evidence to suggest this is true or false with regard to the field of music. On the other hand, it should be assumed that a woman, given the same conditions as a man, can create equally impressive works of art. All efforts in this area should be met with respect even by those who have been skeptical to previous attempts. Amongst those, who have seriously dedicatedly applied themselves to redressing this imbalance in Swedish music, Laura Netzel holds a special position.” (F. Herman) Laura Netzel (1839-1927) is yet another Swedish composer of forgotten treasures. Malin Broman and Simon Crawford-Phillips are back with their third album on dB Productions, this time along with soprano Sabina Bisholt and the Musica Vitae Chamber Orchestra. This chamber music album present never before recorded works for violin & strings, violin & piano, and selected songs and piano pieces by this remarkable composer, just waiting to be discovered by a broader public.

There are only world premiere recordings on this concluding Volume 3 of the wonderful music of Amanda Maier (1853-1894), including a recently re-discovered masterpiece: the piano trio in E flat! The previous two volumes of this remarkable, Swedish-German violinist and composer, married to composer Julius Röntgen, have been great successes. On this third volume, violinist Cecilia Zilliacus's and Bengt Forsberg's loving playing is backed up by cellist Kati Raitinen, second violinist Julia-Maria Kretz, and Johanna Persson, viola. Rising-star-pianist David Huang also appears in a four hand piece. Swedish violinist and composer Amanda Maier was the first female graduate in music direction from the Royal College of Stockholm. She performed concerts in Sweden and abroad, and began composing her first works, which she often premiered. With this album, her entire catalogue is now available.

This new release features even more world premiere recordings of the music of Amanda Maier (1853-1894). Amanda Maier was a Swedish-German composer, was married to fellow composer Julius Rontgen and was a close friend of Edvard Grieg, Johannes Brahms, and other great musicians of the time. The first volume of her music, released in 2016, was a huge success. On Volume 2, leading Swedish violinist Cecilia Zilliacus and pianist Bengt Forsberg perform Maier’s beautiful violin sonata, and Nine pieces for violin and piano. Soprano Sabina Bisholt makes her recording debut with her interpretation of Maier’s great songs. Eight of these seventeen tracks are world premiere recordings.