In a society where standardization is a prevalent issue, the release of an album that deviates from the usual music centered around the established repertoire to present an original program should be welcomed with enthusiasm. This same enthusiasm is evident in the two performers' dedication to discovering new repertoires, and delivering passionate, meticulous performances. This discographic project, aims to interpret and promote original music written for violin and saxophone by both past and contemporary composers. Works from the 20th century, (compositions by Adolf Busch and Pierre Max Dubois, included here as tributes to those who recognized the potential of the unusual violin and saxophone duo), are juxtaposed, with compositions by contemporary authors specifically written for Scarpa-Pigato. The variety of styles, unfolds through post-tonal compositions, (Paolo Paglia, and Luca Moscardi), serial works, (Antonio Pessetto), and evocative pieces, (Alberto Piazza). The unusual timbral combination of the violin, and the diverse colors of the saxophone family, creates an innovative and surprising sonic impact. The fervor that the performers bring to their interpretations, is the elusive quality contemporary music has long sought. Dedication to meticulous work, combined with interpretative excitement is a winning combination.

A Timeless Form, Reimagined for Today With Ya Man Itha, Lebanese singer Rima Khcheich brings to life an album she has carried in her heart for decades. It is a deeply personal tribute to the late Egyptian composer Fouad Abdel Majeed, whose music shaped her artistic voice from an early age. In this recording, Rima revisits ten of Abdel Majeed's Muwashahat-classical Arabic vocal compositions often set to poetry and marked by intricate rhythms and modes-and places them in dialogue with the colors and sensibilities of French chanson. At first glance, chanson may seem far removed from the Arabic Muwashah, yet both traditions share a deep commitment to poetic expression, lyrical nuance, and the marriage of words and harmony. This cross-cultural resonance became the spark for the ensemble's refined arrangements, created by Maarten Ornstein, Tony Overwater, and Juan Rodriguez.

For Wolfgang Amadeus, composing violin sonatas was a welcome respite from his tiresome commissions. With great clarity of expression and the right combination of lightness, playfulness and depth that make these pieces so special, Tibor Gyenge and Michael Schoch present a selection of their favourites.

Saxophone Varie, Vol. 2

When Jan van Gilse completed his studies in Cologne in 1902, he devoted himself to his prizewinning First Symphony along with a dramatic scene based on the prose poem Sulamith by Prince Erich von Schönaich-Carolath, in which Satan realises that there is still love on earth despite his machinations. Judging by his impressive music, this must have been the innermost conviction of the composer, who never found it easy in his life to bridge the gap between his German education and the prevailing taste of his fellow countrymen. Combative and vulnerable, quick-tempered and desperate, he strove for a truth that few heard - a loner even when, in 1929, he wrote the poignant Kreis des Lebens (Circle of Life) after Rainer Maria Rilke, which had had to wait for a hundred years to receive an adequate performance and deserved recognition. Now it has arrived.

After releasing the complete set of Ennio Morricone's Cinema Suites for violin and orchestra on two albums (Cinema Suites, A495 and Cinema Rarities, A554), Marco Serino now presents world premiere recordings of the Maestro's own arrangements for violin and piano. Marco is joined by pianist Leandro Piccioni, who, like Marco, brings over twenty years of experience working closely with Morricone in his favoured orchestra, Roma Sinfonietta. These original arrangements, all from celebrated soundtracks, represent the point of departure for an original anthology in which the two musicians investigate the wider repertoire connected to the cinema. Cinema Memories ranges from works that have since become classics such as the Three Pieces from Schindler's List by John Williams to Bernstein's West Side Story Suite, one of the outright masterpieces of musicals on film, and Myroslav Skoryk's Melody in A minor, a jewel of a piece that has since become a sort of national anthem for the Ukrainian people. It is a programme that interweaves memory and imagination, melancholy and light, dreams and reality, making each listening experience a truly multifaceted experience.

Leo Weiner was one of the most important of all Hungarian pedagogues as well as being a distinguished composer. The success of his Serenade, written when he was 21, was immediate - it's light, intimate and richly melodic qualities, some of which derive from stylised Hungarian dances, are still captivating today. The Divertimento No. 3 and Variations on a Hungarian Folksong mine joyful music from a collection in Budapest's Museum of Ethnography. The Violin Concerto No. 1 is a masterly orchestration of his Violin Sonata, Op. 9, alternating between the playful and the dramatic. The performance heard here restores 115 bars that were cut from the fourth movement, making this the first complete recording.

The album Excursin Animato is a live recording of a unique project that Irena and Vojtech Havel, and the experimental-ambient duo Kora et le Mechanix, performed at the Alternativa Festival in 2006, created specifically for this festival. Here, the Havel couple for the first time combined their fragile, meditative music with electronics, which they had purposefully avoided until then (and even after). The album Excursin Animato is dedicated to the memory of the exceptional musician Vojtech Havel, who died a year ago. He and his wife Irena had been working together since the 1970s, recording a number of albums that mixed elements of European minimalism with Baroque and Eastern traditions. The depth and unpretentiousness of their expression have won them loyal fans at home and abroad and inspired many artists across genres. For their latest album Four Hands (Animal Music, 2024), they received the Czech Music Academy Award. The duo Kora et le Mechanix, formed by Michal Korán and Filip Homola, is celebrating 20 years of existence this year. They have established themselves as one of the most interesting electronic ambient projects in our country. The starting point of the collaboration with the Havel couple was their debut album Excursin (2006). The electronic compositions of Kora et le Mechanix (electronics, sampler, synthesizer, vocoder) are combined with the fragile world of acoustic music of Irena and Vojtech Havel (viola da gamba, cello, piano, and Tibetan bowls). The album Excursin also has a remix version, Excursin Forte (2007), featuring some of the most remarkable artists of the Czech and Slovak electronic scene. Excursin Animato thus concludes this trilogy.

INVISIBLE LIGHT presents six compositions, each representing a different facet of the compositional work of David Evan Jones (b. 1946). Four of the six compositions are scored for traditional Korean instruments and two for Western instruments.

This programme presents a fascinating excursion through the flute literature from 1893 to 1957, providing a glimpse into the evolution of the sonatina - a title suggesting music of greater brevity and stylistic freedom than that of a sonata. Qualities of a delightful sense of fun and simple effectiveness are shared in Petr Eben and Pal Jardanyi's pieces, while the Fox Trot in Alexandre Tansman's Sonatine reminds us of the popularity of jazz in 1920s Paris. Composed during his time in America, Dvorak's renowned Sonatina for violin and piano is heard here in an adaptation by Luisa Sello and Bruno Canino.

Few musicians shaped the evolution of keyboard writing as profoundly as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His sonatas and concertos aligned technical brilliance with lyrical sensitivity to elevate the piano from largely domestic use to a powerful vehicle for solo and ensemble musicianship. This collection of hidden gems includes pieces spanning early childhood miniatures to complete sonata movements, minuets, a set of variations and a wide variety of incomplete works filled with Mozart's characteristic delicacy, surprise and operatic drama. Vijay Venkatesh's recording of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 6 can be heard on a digital-only release, 9.70390.

The Amazon rainforest is almost mythical in it's richness and diversity, and music inspired by it is often the same. On AMAZÔNIA, composer Miguel Kertsman captures the awe-inspiring beauty and fragility of one of the world's natural wonders and pays homage to his homeland of Brazil. Featuring four of his earlier symphonic works, the album peers into the budding composer's early career, already rich with genre experimentation and musical storytelling. Kertsman's juxtaposition of Brazilian folk tradition with orchestral composition bends the rules of classical, creating a worldly sound with universal resonance.

Recorded live in concert at the Krematoriet, Stockholm, on 12 October 2024. Recorded by Adam Forkelid. Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann, 4ohm Berlin. Photos by Joona Toivanen (front cover) and Fredrik Gille. Cover design by Jonas Holmberg

On 9 January 2026, conductor Shea Lolin presents Frisson, an exciting new album of music for woodwind orchestra and his third recording with the principal woodwind players of the Czech Philharmonic (Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year 2024). Frisson follows the release of the ground-breaking Twisted Skyscape, the first album devoted entirely to new music for woodwind orchestra, and Chromosphere, which focused on contemporary repertoire. Frisson marks Shea Lolin's 20-year involvement with the woodwind orchestra and celebrates it's evolution from the early eighteenth-century genre of Harmoniemusik - formal ensemble music for pairs of winds - to it's modern form. The album features a superb programme of arrangements for woodwind orchestra by Shea Lolin, all originally commissioned by the Bloomsbury Woodwind Ensemble. He expands Franz Krommer's exquisite Octet - Partita in F Major, Op. 57, and Richard Strauss's youthful Serenade, Op. 7, creating a broader sonic landscape while maintaining their essence. Also included is Cécile Chaminade's beloved Concertino, Op. 107, arranged for woodwind orchestra and featuring young Glaswegian flautist Fiona Sweeney, who makes her debut with the Czech Philharmonic on this release. Completing the album is More Gordian Knots by Guy Woolfenden OBE, a spirited reimagining of Purcell's music for The Gordian Knot Unty'd, written during Woolfenden's remarkable 40-year association with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Just in time for the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II on 25 October 2025, cpo is releasing the complete recording of a comedy that will itself celebrate it's 130th anniversary on 4 December. In Waldmeister, the undisputed king of the waltz once again pulls out all the stops and delivers a delightful comedy whose scandalous mix-ups ultimately dissolve in a high-proof punch. It's distinctive taste features a hero with a botanical title (Galium odoratum) and a series of evergreens - above all, the leitmotif and proverbial "Trau schau wem" ("Trust, but check"), which is enthusiastically taken up by friend and foe alike. This live recording was made during the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz's guest performance in Vienna and whose new production contributed to this year's Austrian Strauss celebrations.

Using simple means -yodeling, musical bow, mouth harp, gong, drum and voice- the Adadi of Atauro share their sorrows and joys, both intimately and collectively. The Atauro island has around 10,000 inhabitants, divided into three ethno-linguistic groups, of which only the Adadi (around 2,000 people) have preserved a varied musical practice, despite the fact that it (and their language) is in serious danger of extinction. The music gives rhythm to the walks to the fields, and enhances the harvest of palm wine morning and evening. It often brings tears to the eyes, but softens sadness and intensifies joy at celebrations that include all age groups and genders. Despite an abrupt interruption in transmission in 1974 by Christian missionaries, certain forbidden ritual songs are still remembered.

Fruit d'une rencontre musicale exceptionnelle entre le pianiste de jazz francais Olivier Hutman et le joueur de kora senegalais Lamine Cissokho, Double Skyline fusionne avec brio les traditions musicales ouest africaines, particulierement mandingues et le jazz. Sorti initialement sur le label Cristal Records, cet album d'une rare fraicheur, nous embarque dans un voyage sonore qui mele quietude et ravissement, tout en ouvrant vers de nouveaux horizons. Augustin BONDOUX & Patrick FReMEAUX Accords, modes, timbres, rythmes, deux continents, une seule histoire : le pianiste Olivier Hutman et le joueur de kora Lamine Cissokho proposent un magnifique echange de vues avec Double Skyline. Francis MARMANDE - LE MONDE "Double Skyline" is the result of an exceptional encounter in music between French jazz pianist Olivier Hutman and Senegalese kora player Lamine Cissokho. With brio, their album provides a fusion of West African traditions, particularly Mandinka music and jazz. Initially released on the label Cristal Records, this album has a rare freshness that takes us on a voyage in sound that mingles tranquility and delight while opening out onto new horizons. Augustin BONDOUX & Patrick FReMEAUX OLIVIER HUTMAN - PIANO - LAMINE CISSOKHO - KORA NUMERO UNO* - FOLON* - FIVE IN BLUE* - CONTREVENT* - SUNUJAZZ* - SOPHIE TUCKER'S FAVORITE DREAM* - FASSOULO* - CAPO VERDE* - MODESTY*. COMPOSED BY LAMINE CISSOKHO. COMPOSED BY OLIVIER HUTMAN.

Reginald Smith Brindle served with the Royal Engineers in Africa and Italy during the Second World War, and later returned to Italy in 1949 to further his compositional studies with Pizzetti and Dallapiccola. The influence of Italian landscapes and culture can be found in many of Smith Brindle's works, including an extended combination of nostalgia and melancholy in November Memories dedicated to the poet Margherita Guidacci, and an evocation of the spirit of Gesualdo in The Prince of Venosa. The sheer variety of his guitar music is further represented in the expressive Preludes and Fantasias, the technical demands of the Île-de-France Variations, and the pedagogical but intriguingly atonal Ten Simple Preludes.

SOMM Recordings marks the 150th anniversary of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912) with a diverse selection of his orchestral works, reflecting both his Afro-British parentage and a musical milieu that included Holst and Vaughan Williams. Of particular note is that five of the seven works presented here are first recordings. This commemorative release features the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Charles Peebles, whose first recordings of Piano Concertos by Dora Bright and Ruth Gipps for SOMM were widely praised. It was quickly apparent that Coleridge-Taylor possessed an unusual talent, and he produced a remarkable body of work before his untimely death at 37 though much of his music has been hidden from public view by the absence of surviving performance material. He composed his first work for voice and orchestra, Zara's Earrings, when he was just 19. Rebecca Murphy, hailed by Opera Journal for her "stunning delivery," is the featured soprano. The Ballade, also written when Coleridge-Taylor was 19, was premiered by Isabella Donkersley, the future wife of Augustus Jaeger (soon to be immortalised by Elgar as 'Nimrod' in his Enigma Variations). The Ballade's great drama and charismatic melodic material play to the strengths of Coleridge-Taylor having been a violinist.  Ioana Petcu-Colan, heard here, is leader of the Ulster Orchestra and a soloist of considerable reputation. When Coleridge-Taylor heard Brahms's Clarinet Quintet while a student at the Royal College of Music, he was encouraged to write his own. The Romance for string orchestra is an arrangement of the quintet's introspective Larghetto affettuoso movement. Solemn Prelude, written for the Worcester Three Choirs Festival of 1899, is a work of elegiac pathos exuding the confidence of a young composer reaching the height of his powers. Since it's modern revival in 2021, it's been performed by some of the world's most distinguished orchestras. Coleridge-Taylor's Idyll, a commission for the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival in 1901, was a reworking of the Lament from his Symphony in A minor. When he conducted it's first performance, the Times critic wrote, "it was a single, very beautiful movement in C major. Giving ample room for the composer's love of original rhythm and rich and individual orchestral colouring. " Ethiopia Saluting the Colours from 1902 is an exuberant work for orchestra and organ. It was inspired by Walt Whitman's moving poem paying tribute to an elderly Ethiopian woman encountered during the American Civil War. Beerbohm Tree commissioned the incidental music for Stephen Phillip's play Nero in 1906, and the chance for Coleridge-Taylor to hear his music nightly rather than as one performance in the concert hall was a particular joy. This anniversary collection includes the first Entr'acte, which also featured at the 1907 Proms under Henry Wood.

GENUIN and Schola Heidelberg present world premiere recordings in Dolby Atmos on a new album featuring works by the internationally awarded composer Dániel Péter Biró, who teaches in Norway. The elite Heidelberg choir and the ensemble aisthesis, specializing in contemporary music, acquaint us with Biró's imaginative and multi-layered music, which reflects the thought-world of the eminent Dutch-Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza in sound and pours it into new contexts. A listening experience spanning cultures and epochs!

Bien qu'Erik Satie soit principalement reconnu pour son oeuvre de compositeur et pianiste, ses ecrits poetiques sont a l'image de sa musique : souvent courts, empreints d'un humour absurde et d'une grande sensibilite melancolique. La voix profonde et le timbre captivant de Francois Marthouret, se mele ici aux harmonies delicates du piano de Christiane Gugger. La complicite sensible entre l'acteur et la pianiste, souligne toute la musicalite et l'inattendu de ces ecrits iconoclastes signes par l'un des plus grands precurseurs de son epoque Augustin BONDOUX / Patrick FReMEAUX Although Erik Satie is primarily known for his work as a composer and pianist, his poetic writings reflect the same qualities as his music: often brief, tinged with absurd humor and deep melancholic sensitivity. The deep voice and captivating tone of Francois Marthouret blend here with the delicate harmonies of Christiane Gugger's piano. The sensitive rapport between the actor and the pianist highlights the musicality and unpredictability of these iconoclastic writings by one of the greatest pioneers of his time. Augustin BONDOUX / Patrick FReMEAUX GNOSSIENNE N°2 ET JE SUIS Ne a HONFLEUR - GNOSSIENNE N°4 - JE REGRETTE - GNOSSIENNE N°3 - LA JOURNeE D'UN MUSICIEN - VALSE-BALLET. SPORTS ET DIVERTISSEMENTS - CHORAL INAPPeTISSANT - LA BALANcOIRE - LA CHASSE - LA COMeDIE ITALIENNE - LE ReVEIL DE LA MARIeE - COLIN MAILLARD - LA PeCHE - LE YACHTING - LE BAIN DE MER - LE CARNAVAL - LE GOLF - LA PIEUVRE - LES COURSES - LES QUATRE COINS - LE PICNIC - LE WATER-CHUTE - LE TANGO - LE TRAiNEAU - LE FLIRT - LE FEU D'ARTIFICE - LE TENNIS. MUSIQUE SUR L'EAU - FANTAISIE-VALSE - ECHANGE D'IDeE - OGIVE N°1 - LES PeRIMeS - GNOSSIENNE N°5 - LE VERTIGE - SEUL a LA MAISON. LETTRE a DEBUSSY - 20 JUILLET 1903 - 14 AOÛT 1903 - 17 AOÛT 1903. AVANT-DERNIeRES PENSeES - IDYLLE a DEBUSSY - AUBADE a PAUL DUCAS - MeDITATION a ALBERT ROUSSEL. MICHELET ET LES ANIMAUX - PIeCE FROIDE N°2 - L'ARTISTE ET L'ENNUI - GNOSSIENNE N°1 - MESDAMES MESDEMOISELLES MESSIEURS - JE TE VEUX LETTRE a SUZANNE VALADON 11 MARS 1893 - SON BINOCLE.

Paris was the musical destination for many Russian emigre composers between the two World Wars, with both Grechaninov, from an older generation, and Tcherepnin, from a younger one, living in the city. Grechaninov's Piano Trio No. 2 in G major is a brightly decorative work, whereas Tcherepnin's concise, refined orientalism in the Piano Trio, Op. 34 is influenced by French modernism and the Russian avant-garde. Daniele Amfitheatrof moved to Rome where he wrote his beautiful, sunlit Piano Trio, richly imbued with the aura of Puccini and Mascagni. The dazzling Piano Trio on Hebrew Themes by New York-based Jacob Weinberg incorporates synagogue and Russian tunes, quotations from Bizet, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann, as well as tango rhythms.

This album celebrates how tolerance and cultural exchange can lead to something new and beautiful, both in music and society. In every culture, the soul finds new ways to dance. Step into the circle-where sound is not judged, but joined. "Playing in a trio like this has been a dream of mine for a long time. I've always been fascinated by music from all sorts of cultures. With Jaggat, we're blending genres in a way that feels really natural - it's not just a patchwork. There are rich harmonies, beautiful melodies, cool grooves, and some odd meters thrown in. I love that it all comes together as one cohesive sound." - CASPAR VAN MEEL "Jaggat is a unique blend of various musical styles-including classical music, jazz, world music, flamenco, and Indian music-all fused into a tasteful and vibrant mélange. It was a great joy to play and record this album with these fantastic musicians." - Markus Conrad "Music is a reflection on our society and the times we live in. These compositions express how we live nowadays in Europe. All cultures are represented and are melting in a beautiful way, at least in art and music. That's what I love about this project!" - AFRA MUSSAWISADE

Membre du Big Band de Claude Bolling depuis 1978, le talentueux saxophoniste et clarinettiste Claude Tissendier a ete un temoin privilegie de la carriere du pianiste et chef d'orchestre. Ces annees de collaboration et une connaissance intime du repertoire bollingien, conferent a son hommage une authenticite rare. Avec Swingin' Bolling Tissendier s'affirme comme un passeur de memoire, un gardien du temple swing, qui perpetue a merveille l'esprit et la lettre de l'oeuvre du chef. Augustin BONDOUX / Patrick FReMEAUX The talented saxophonist/clarinet-player Claude Tissendier has been a member of the Claude Bolling Big Band since 1978, and so a privileged witness to his leader's career as a pianist and conductor. During those years of collaboration, Tissendier has gained an intimate knowledge of the band's repertoire that lends rare authenticity to his tribute here. With "Swingin' Bolling", Tissendier shows himself to be a perfect messenger filled with memories and also one of the best guardians of the temple of Swing. This record wonderfully perpetuates the spirit and the letter of the works of "the Chief." Augustin BONDOUX / Patrick FReMEAUX BOWLING GREEN - LET'S SWING IT - TRADE MARK - BIG GOLDEN PIPE RHAPSODY - THE KEY - SAX SPECIALTIES (SAX SPECIAL TISS) - GENTLE GIRL - FEED THE CATS - MAIN DE FER ET GANT DE VELOURS - LA COMPLAINTE DES APACHES - PARIS EN BOUTEILLE - SOFT CALL - KEEP SMILING - CITY LIFE. CLAUDE TISSENDIER SAXPHONE ALTO, ARRANGEMENTS eRIC LEVRARD SAXPHONE BARYTON PHILIPPE MILANTA PIANO PIERRE MAINGOURD CONTREBASSE ALAIN CHAUDRON BATTERIE FABY MeDINA CHANT (5 &10) TOUTES LES COMPOSITIONS SONT DE CLAUDE BOLLING

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.