In the second instalment of the Consone Quartet's cycle, the foursome continues it's exploration of Felix Mendelssohn's string quartets, simultaneously delving into the work of his sister Fanny, with her only work in the genre. Despite it's turbulent character, Felix's String Quartet in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2, was written three months after the composer's marriage, during a period of stability and creativity. In contrast, the String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80, was composed while he was recovering from shock, following Fanny's premature death. It is a work of striking bitterness and agitation, an unambiguous reflection of his distraught mental state. Fanny's String Quartet in E flat major is an attractive and well-crafted work, which, due to her family discouraging her pursuit of a career in composition, remained unpublished until 1988. It is given a vibrant performance here by the Consone Quartet, the first period instrument quartet to be selected as BBC New Generation Artists.

In his debut recital album, countertenor Hugh Cutting presents Refound with pianist Audrey Hyland. This programme revolves around songs that are the product of two roots, seen through two lenses. Cutting and Hyland build a recital celebrating rediscovery and reinterpretation, presenting songs that blend old and new in their construction, text, or context. It is a testament to the beauty of interpretation and revival. This theme unfolds in folk-inspired songs by Ravel and Vaughan Williams; ancient texts in Howells and Dvorak; an imagined past in Wolf and Hahn; emotional education in Beach, Rodrigo and Lama; Lehrer's parody; the recently rediscovered Mel Bonis; Piers Connor Kennedy's improvisation-adjacent Rough Rhymes (world premiere recording); and Jeremy Sams' new translation of Schubert's Abschied. Noted for his 'exceptional voice, lustrous and rounded' (The Times), Cutting is fast establishing a reputation for his narrative skill and vocal prowess. He cites Audrey Hyland, Head of Vocal and Opera at the Royal College of Music, as invaluable in his artistic development; Refound honours that relationship.

Winner of the 2009 ARD International Music Competition, violinist Hyeyoon Park has made a name for herself as a soloist and chamber musician, performing with the likes of Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Kian Soltani, Timothy Ridout and Benjamin Grosvenor. On her first album for Linn, Silenced, she partners Gergely Madaras and WDR Sinfonieorchester in a beautiful programme that showcases two composers who were at odds with the system in place. Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto was banned for it's 'formalist distortions' and only premiered in 1955 after Stalin's death. Refusing to join the Nazi-aligned Kultuurkamer, Dutch composer Henriette Bosmans' work was banned. Her Concert Piece for Violin and Orchestra, composed in grief, is introspective and bitter in tone. A youthful academic exercise, Shostakovich's Variations Op. 3 brings the album to a rumbustious end.

This is the definitive collection of Charles Mackerras's Mozart recordings for Linn, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Comprising nine symphonies plus the Requiem, this boxed set exemplifies why Mackerras was acclaimed as one of the world's greatest Mozartians and the SCO is internationally recognised as one of the world's finest chamber orchestras. Mackerras's recording of Mozart's four late symphonies (Nos. 38-41) won multiple awards: the 2009 Classical BRITs Critics' Award and the 2009 BBC Music Magazine Disc of the Year and Orchestral Awards, whilst his recording of symphonies Nos. 29, 31 ('Paris'), 32, 35 ('Haffner') & 36 ('Linz') was named Symphonic Recording of the Year at the 2011 ECHO Klassik Awards. Completing the collection is Mackerras's recording of the Mozart Requiem, boasting stellar soloists led by soprano Susan Gritton and mezzo Catherine Wyn-Rogers. The score, prepared by the renowned American academic Robert Levin, aims for a more historically authentic performance of the choral masterpiece. It was named a benchmark recording by BBC Music Magazine amongst other accolades.

Led by it's Director Matthew Martin, The Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, joins forces with the Academy of Ancient Music in Michael Haydn's rarely heard masterpieces: the Requiem and Missa Sancti Hieronymi. The four soloists are all ex-choral scholars of Caius Choir, showcasing the distinguished musical tradition of this student group. Unjustly neglected, Joseph Haydn's younger brother was a talented composer in his own right. Written after the death of his infant daughter and his patron, the deeply emotional Requiem is a masterpiece that combines complex colourful textures and forms with imaginative orchestration and vocal writing. Mozart was a great admirer and it is thought that Haydn's Requiem formed the prototype for his own better known masterpiece. In contrast, the later Missa Sancti Hieronymi is lighter and more optimistic. Unusually scored for oboes, bassoons, trombones and continuo (with no upper strings), it exudes transparency and joyful energy. This recording will undoubtedly put these neglected works back into mainstream repertoire.

According to The Telegraph 'Ingrid Fliter was born to play Chopin', such is her profound musicianship and affinity with the Polish composer. Here, the Gilmore Artist Award winner continues her highly acclaimed Chopin odyssey, which began over a decade ago, with the complete mazurkas. This, the first of two volumes to be released on Linn, includes the early Opp. 6 and 7, the Op. 24 as well as the later sets, Opp. 50, 59 and 63. The programme reflects on the composer's evolving style, from simple folk-inspired dances to brilliantly sophisticated, intimate works whose intricate counterpoint and harmonies often push the boundaries of the form and serve as a benchmark for the genre. Also included are some posthumous mazurkas which transverse Chopin's entire compositional career.

Baritone Florian Boesch and pianist Malcolm Martineau continue their successful collaboration on Linn with a recital pairing two geniuses who hated each other. Exploring the rivalry between Johannes Brahms and Hugo Wolf, the album showcases some of their most compelling songs which express deep emotion and philosophical themes. Brahms's Vier ernste Gesange, written in memory of Clara Schumann, contrasts melancholy with transcendence, whilst lieder like Sehnsucht and Die Trauernde evoke poignant pain and unresolved longing. Wolf, in his Goethe and Michelangelo songs, captures profound existential reflections, contrasting fame with love and weaving harmonies that echo the complexities of human emotion. The album concludes with Wolf's Prometheus, a tour-de-force of maximum power befitting Florian and Malcolm, two giants of the lieder scene.

The Choir of New College Oxford's latest album on Linn explores the rich and complex world of William Mundy, a key figure in 16th-century English music. His compositions, shaped by the religious and political upheavals of his time, offer a fascinating mix of intricate harmonies and unexpected choral textures. From the expansive Vox patris caelestis - a monument of Renaissance English polyphony - to the more intimate O Lord, the maker of all thing, Mundy's music reflects both the compositional idioms of the day and it's many challenges. This most remarkable composer shines in a performance to match by the centuries-old Choir of New College and it's Director Robert Quinney. A must-hear for lovers of Renaissance choral music!

On this, the second volume of Magnificat's three-part project 'Lassus: The Alchemist', the ensemble explores the composer's Magnificat's based on motets. It is remarkable that, of Lassus's thirty-five Magnificat's based on polyphonic models, only eight draw musical inspiration from motets. But if these Magnificat's are relatively few in number, their musical quality and impact are outsized. Whether in Praeter rerum seriem, where he expands Josquin's motet into a formidable 250-bar Magnificat, or Aurora lucis rutilat, where he transforms his own Eastertide motet into a jubilant musical celebration, these works exemplify some of Lassus's finest compositional achievements. Inspired by the lavish musical resources of the ducal chapel in Munich, where Lassus worked from 1557 until his death in 1594, this album brings together voices and instruments in diverse combinations, enhancing the richness and variety of the scoring.

Young pianist Ariel Lanyi is already an established figure on the concert stage. After making his recording debut as part of the Royal Academy of Music Bicentenary Series and winning third prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2021, he received the prestigious Prix Serdang in 2023 from Rudolf Buchbinder. In contrast to the intimacy of his Schubert album, Organ Reflections is a project on a more epic scale. Often called the 'King of Instruments', the organ has been a defining presence in classical music, inspiring composers like Bach, Brahms and Messiaen. In this album, Ariel performs works by three virtuoso organists that combine the idiomatic grandeur of the organ and the flexibility of the piano. From Mozart's serene Andante to Franck's lyrical Prelude, Aria et Final and Reger's monumental Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Bach, each piece reflects a unique blend of the sound worlds of both the organ and the piano, showcasing the enduring legacy of this most majestic instrument.

To celebrate Maurice Ravel's 150th anniversary in 2025, Kebyart sets out to explore his unique compositional legacy, despite the composer never having written for saxophone quartet. The album includes Kebyart's transcriptions of Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin and Pavane pour une infante defunte, alongside arrangements of French Baroque works by Rameau, highlighting both Ravel's admiration for ornamentation and his influence on today's composers. New pieces by Mikel Urquiza and Joan Perez-Villegas engage with Ravel's musical philosophy, delving into his radical simplicity, subtle rhythmic layers and inventive structures. Through these works, Kebyart aims to unravel Ravel's complex yet elegant style, blending the past with the future in a journey of musical discovery.

Music Director Thomas Sondergard conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in a programme showcasing three leading composers from twentieth-century Poland. Polish music was flourishing at that time, yet the country was going through unimaginable political turmoil, having to endure the Nazi and Communist occupations. Despite this, composers Szymanowski, Bacewicz and Lutoslawski reshaped Polish musical identity, each with their own language. Moving from her early neo-classical style towards something more complex, bold and colourful, Bacewicz wrote the defiant Overture for Orchestra in occupied Poland in 1943. In the sensual King Roger (1926), performed here in a new arrangement by Ian Farrington, Szymanowski blended late Romanticism with Mediterranean and Polish influences. Lutoslawski pushed Polish music beyond Romanticism, embracing folk traditions and modern techniques. His Symphony No. 3 (1983) became a powerful symbol of freedom in Poland and marked a key moment in his late symphonic style.

The Art of Fugue is Bach's final composition and one of his most challenging. In this album Phantasm and it's director Laurence Dreyfus showcase all the hidden beauties of the composer's magnum opus, arguably the pinnacle of the fugue genre. Printed in open score, the format allows a rendition on viols, as recorded here. Brimming with rich counterpoint and dynamic conversation among the parts, the work can legitimately claim a place within the consort repertoire. Bach manages to paint a finely delineated set of contrasting musical portraits full of revelations and surprises. Far from an academic encyclopaedia of arcane musical techniques, The Art of Fugue thus embarks on a (unfinished) voyage of discovery shared by an inveterate explorer whose thirst for invention knows no bounds. Organist Daniel Hyde performs four movements in this welcome follow-up to Phantasm's acclaimed Well-Tempered Consort series.

In Samson Tsoy's artfully designed solo debut recording, ideas reverberate across the centuries as Brahms's elaborations of works by two past masters are juxtaposed with reworkings of his own music by two later composers. Lauded for his originality and 'inexhaustible imagination', the young pianist and celebrated duo partner of Pavel Kolesnikov is fascinated by the intimate and poignant role of an interpreter. Questioning the subtle difference between interpretation and creation, Tsoy weaves together this complex tapestry of versions, variants and variations. Forming the core of this gripping recital, Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel, Op. 24, is a series of carefully crafted miniatures. Bach's Chaconne, brilliantly arranged for the left hand by Brahms, is another instance of a genius humbly sourcing inspiration while interpreting the masterwork of his predecessor. The rest of the recital points to Brahms's successors Busoni and Reger, who arranged six of Brahms's Chorale Preludes, Op. 122, and Vier Ernste Gesange, Op. 121, respectively.

Following two highly acclaimed albums, the Maxwell Quartet rounds off it's Haydn mini-series with the composer's two Op. 77 string quartets, juxtaposed with it's signature pairing of Scottish folk music. The quartet, which has become known for it's 'infectious enthusiasm' and 'irresistible' playing (BBC Music Magazine), showcases it's compelling storytelling with Haydn's last foray in the genre. The two quartets balance and complement each other perfectly: one brilliant, enigmatic, youthful and light, the other considered, noble and with a certain degree of gravitas. The complementary choice of Scottish folk music is equally balanced, ranging from the joyful - The Marquis of Tullibardine, Captain Campbell's March, etc. - to the more sombre - Hector the Hero. The cleverly constructed programme epitomises Hatto Beyerle's aphorism (the Maxwell Quartet's mentor, and dedicatee of this album): 'In order to truly understand Haydn's music, you must first understand folk music.'