Violist Jonathan Bagg unearths three overlooked gems of the mid-20th century chamber repertoire by Marion Bauer, Ulysees Kay, and Margaret Bonds. Joined by pianists Emely Phelps and Mimi Solomon, Bagg sheds light on well deserving repertoire by three composers whose contributions to the larger musical field went far beyond their fine music.

J.S. Bach's 'The Art of Fugue' is considered his monumental final statement, a work renowned for it's architectural complexity and spiritual depth. This recording presents the work on the celebrated Metzler organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, an instrument noted for it's clarity. The performance approaches the score not as an abstract exercise but as a coherent dramatic journey, where registration is used to clarify the structure and character of each movement. The chosen arc builds towards the unfinished fugue, treating it as a purposeful fragment that invites reflection on the work's inherent possibilities, offering a compelling interpretation of one of the repertoire's most significant compositions.

Celil Refik Kaya is a contemporary guitarist and composer in the great tradition of artists who have created their own unique contribution to the repertoire. Sonata No. 1 is characterised by various stylistic resemblances, which include South and North American composers, jazz chord progressions, French impressionism, and Spanish folk music, whereas the Sonatina expresses more personal emotions. Kaya's Turkish background can be heard in his variations on the folk song Yavuz Geliyor Yavuz, which, like the Sketches, has it's origins in art and music close to the composer's heart.

Cornetist Kirk Knuffke, hailed as “one of modern jazz’s most skilled navigators of the divide between freedom and swing,” unveils another striking SteepleChase album this March. Following acclaimed projects like Cherryco, Tight Like This, Play Date, and Super Blonde, Knuffke again redefines ensemble possibilities with daring instrumentation and imaginative repertoire. His warm, distinctive cornet tone—played on the rare double shepherd’s-crook horn—anchors a program balancing tradition and innovation. Standards, early jazz gems, and soulful classics are transformed through collective improvisation, while Knuffke’s originals sparkle with wit and lyricism. Critics have praised his ability to honour past masters while sounding entirely himself. This new release continues that legacy: colourful, inventive, swinging, and deeply memorable. This new release confirms his stature and offers another dazzling chapter in his ongoing story. For longtime admirers, it is a welcome continuation; for newcomers, it is an ideal entry point into the world of a cornetist whose artistry bridges past and present, inside and outside, swing and freedom. “Cornetist Kirk Knuffke’s exquisite taste is long established. _at aesthetic has always arrived subtly and cleanly, as it does on this beguiling new album”. (Peter Margasak - Downbeat on SCCD31964 Super Bonde)

Marking Oriel College's 700th anniversary, this unique collection explores the diverse musical traditions connected with Oriel College. Drawing on sources from medieval Marian devotion to the Oxford Movement, and from the work of distinguished fellows to contemporary commissions for the chapel choir, it explores the influence and inspiration of the college's scholars, poets, and musicians over seven centuries, charting an evolving relationship between the college and it's cultural life.

This album brings together a remarkable collection of secular choral works by the eminent American composer Dan Locklair, celebrated for his gift of weaving words with rich, expansive, harmonious, and lyrical music. Drawing on texts by poets as diverse as Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, W.B. Yeats, Phillis Wheatley, Christine Teale Howes, John Gillespie Magee, Jr., and Rabindranath Tagore, these pieces explore themes of love and loss, nature and freedom, moments of intimate reflection, and events of world-shaking resonance, always with a voice that is deeply rooted in American culture. Spanning more than three decades, the works range from intimate unaccompanied choral partsongs to expansive cantatas, all commissioned by a range of ensembles, youth choirs, and choral societies.

The Schuppanzigh Quartet is one of the successful ensembles that has engaged with historical performance practice internationally for years. The power derived from the musical writings of past eras gives the ensemble a distinctive and distinctive sound language. The successful blend of newly discovered works and the masterful interpretation of Viennese classics and early Romantics are part of the ensemble's fundamental focus.

The arrangement of Albeniz's piano works for solo guitar, multiple guitars, and even guitar plus a melody instrument has a long tradition, beginning with Francisco Tarrega and Miguel Llobet as well as many other legendary guitarists. The arrangements and versions recorded here are not actually original arrangements but are compiled from a multitude of existing templates and suggestions from recordings.

Heinz Holliger, an exceptional oboist, pianist, and composer, did not compose anything for piano for almost 40 years after his 1961 work "Elis - Three Nocturnes". A whole series of musical tributes and birthday greetings composed since the beginning of the 21st century was then published in 2019 under the Schumannesque title "Albumblatter" (Album Leaves) and has now been recorded in it's entirety for the first time by Kirill Zvegintsov. These are typically Holligerian, highly intricate showpieces with many references, which are expertly explained in the album essay. These works are combined with early and late piano works by the Swiss composer and pianist Jurg Wyttenbach, who died in 2021 and had a close musical relationship with Holliger. In the last years of his life, this expert in New Music took on the daring task of completing Beethoven's sketches for an alternative third movement for his Piano Sonata Op. 109 - an undertaking that only such a skilled pianist and composer could attempt. In the last days of his life, Wyttenbach was able to listen to the premiere of this reconstruction by Zvegintsov. The Ukrainian pianist combines and contrasts this experiment with the original modern works in a very stimulating way.

Both a celebration of life and a deeply spiritual reflection, The Breath of Life is Matthew Coleridge's radiant follow-up to his acclaimed Requiem. "I wanted to write something full of life and positivity," Coleridge explains, "something that would scream joy, vitality, and rhythm - quite the opposite of a Requiem." Though inspired by sacred traditions, The Breath of Life is a vibrant cantata for choir and orchestra that explores human wonder, nature, and the divine across a tapestry of texts from psalms and hymns to the writings of mystics and scientists.

This CD features works whose first editions or manuscripts are preserved in libraries north of the Alps, particularly in present-day Germany. Of particular interest is that these are primarily works for wind instruments, especially oboes, but also trumpets. Another important aspect is the transcription and arrangement of Albinoni's works and themes from the pen of two famous German composers, Johann Sebastian Bach and Johann Gottfried Walther. Albinoni was already very famous during his lifetime and admired by princes and fellow musicians, even north of the Alps!

An internationally renowned oboist, Victor Aviat was a soloist with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, the Orchestra Mozart under Claudio Abbado, and Ivan Fischer's Budapest Festival Orchestra for 20 years. He also studied piano, composition, and conducting. His first work as a composer was performed by the Orchestre National de France under the baton of Emmanuel Krivine (his stepfather) in 2019. Victor Aviat died on 1 May 2025 in Berlin following a sudden illness. This double album pays tribute to this multi-talented artist. Victor was also a painter and author of poems, which he set to music and performed himself. This portrait presents a double programme, with pieces for oboe and piano by Robert Schumann (recorded in 2024 with pianist Kim Barbier) and his 17 songs... The booklet accompanying this double album includes an illustration for each song as well as some of his paintings and a text he wrote 'to young musicians'. Like his self-portrait, with his face half submerged in darkness, Victor Aviat's songs offer us glimpses of his inner life and feelings through allusions and clues. To keep alive the memory of Victor Aviat, both as an artist and as a man.

In volume 19 of James D. Hicks' Nordic Journey series, Dr. Hicks has commissioned and premieres a new (2024), 50-plus-minute, 24-movement collection of contemporary miniatures for pipe organ, penned by the rising composer Fredrik Sixten, entitled A Nordic Organ Book. Performed upon the historic 1871 Åkerman organ of the Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden.

Welcome to the Sound House - a place of contemplation, curiosity, and discovery. Here, echoes of the Baroque intertwine with the unpredictable shimmer of electronics, as Miako Klein and Jia Lim traverse centuries of sound and imagination. Drawing inspiration from Francis Bacon's New Atlantis (1626), the duo reimagines the "sound-houses" he described - laboratories of resonance and invention - as a living metaphor for their own musical practice. At the heart of Nova Atlantis lies a dialogue between the historical and the experimental, between notation and improvisation, between gut strings and glowing LEDs. A Renaissance harpsichord replica hums beside recorders and baroque violins; beneath, a constellation of cables and pedals shape the music into new dimensions of color and texture. Klein and Lim explore the Doctrine of Affections through fresh ears, uncovering the rhetorical power of the old masters - Biber, Matteis, Buxtehude, Frescobaldi, Weckmann, and Schmelzer - and reanimating their spirit through the lens of the Stylus Fantasticus. Improvisation flows freely, merging the precision of early music with the spontaneity of modern sound art. The result is a sonic journey through past and present, where historical gestures resonate with electronic echoes, and the language of the Baroque is refracted through contemporary sensibilities.

Jaggat is a band that builds virtuosic sound bridges between chamber jazz and musical traditions from around the globe. Spanish, Indian, Arabic, African, and Latin American influences merge into a powerful and cohesive sonic tapestry, transcending cultural boundaries. The name Jaggat-derived from Sanskrit for "world"-reflects the ensemble's mission: uniting the rich sounds of diverse cultures into a captivating musical journey rooted in openness and respect for diversity. Their new album demonstrates how tolerance and cultural exchange can give rise to something truly new and beautiful-in music as in society. By weaving together global rhythms, melodies, and traditions, Jaggat creates a sound that is unmistakably their own. At the heart of this musical dialogue are original compositions by guitarist Markus Conrad and double bassist Caspar van Meel, seamlessly intertwined yet unmistakably marked by their individual voices. Percussionist Afra Mussawisade enriches the music with his unique instrumentation, laying down both a vibrant groove and a refined sonic foundation. Whether performing as a trio or expanding into a quartet with guest violinist Christoph Konig, Jaggat unfolds a colorful and wide-ranging spectrum of sound. Their music reveals that diversity not only enriches but also inspires.

Pierre-Antoine Savoyat couldn't have found a better title for this second album! Thanks to his subtle way of contemplating and embellishing space and sound as a composer and as trumpet player, Thousand Shades of a Clown reveals personal and refreshing music with a kaleidoscopic imagination, effervescent with colours and emotions. The veil of the clown's mask gradually *fades away* to reveal the essence of his art: tenderness, generosity and humility. Much like a sleeping volcano, we enjoy a poetic quietness always bounded with a boiling energy underneath the surface. Sometimes, Pierre-Antoine allows us to witness an unannounced eruption, before returning to a feeling of deep peace through the beauty of a masterful sound. His characteristic kindness probably hides a passionate fire and his humanist commitments in search of truth are never far away; perhaps even constituting the lifeblood of this work in which the stories of his life untangle and detangle. His desire to make the world a more wonderful place is expressed through the poetry of lyrical musical gestures, supported and propelled with intensity by his faithful accomplice, pianist Simon Groppe, a true chameleon of the keyboard. Their surprising and precise articulations are extended with equal finesse by Fil Caporali on double bass and Oscar Georges on drums, forming a perfectly harmonized quartet. Between his solitude and the absurdity of the world, Savoyat has forged a masterful and compelling musical language, bringing with him guests with boundless imagination and crystal-clear ideas, true nuggets of pure gold like those old-time-alchemists dreamed of: Alexandra Grimal, with her majestic saxophone sound; Lucia Pires, with her light and dauntless flute; and Lynn Cassiers, captivating with her unique vocal and artistic universe. Therefore, the album takes on a plural form in a counterpoint of shared stories, styles and times without ever losing the coherence of a common discourse. Pierre-Antoine weaves the whole together with the care of a goldsmith and through his fluid and mysterious intonations - where the 'between' naturally becomes the 'inside' - he blossoms into space like a tightrope walker defying the laws of gravity. Each piece of music has it's own specific touch; the titles speak for themselves, sprinkled with melancholy and filled with warmth. Comforting like a refuge where you are always In good company - as in the lyrics of Lynn Cassiers - this album could even become one of those with which you live, breathe, and through which you open the windows of your inner universe to get closer to the light in a world that has become far too dark.

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.

The album consists of five triptychs written for solo guitar in the 20th century by composers representing various areas of musical culture. The album opens with a work by Tansman, which references the compositions of Frédéric Chopin. Rodrigo's composition strictly follows his characteristic musical language, based on stylizations of dances and motifs drawn from Spanish tradition. Torroba's suite is a tribute to the music of the Castilian region, an emotional, virtuosic work with playful elements. The miniatures by Henz, with their dreamlike, meditative character, bear the mark of the versatile German composer's personal style, whose musical language combines elements of expressionism, twelve-tone technique, neoclassicism, and tonality. The final work on the album is by Barrios Mangoré, the Paraguayan guitarist and most prominent composer of his country, whose piece borders between the sacred and the profane, containing elements of Baroque virtuosity. Andrzej Grygier is one of the most outstanding classical guitarists of his generation, a laureate of prestigious guitar competitions worldwide, and this album confirms his virtuosic skill and musical sensitivity.

Master drummer Stephane Galland (Aka Moon, The Rhythm Hunters, Ibrahim Maalouf...) presents Kanda, a fresh and polymorphous trio with Lucia Pires (Steps, Edoardo Cimino, Tomorrow's Warriors) on flute and EWI, and Louise van den Heuvel (Sonic Hug, Dishwasher_, Stephane Galland & The Rhythm Hunters) on electric bass, samples and effects. Kanda refers to many different concepts. In Sanskrit, the word means "chapter" and in South Indian music, Kanda Chapu is used to define a 5-beat cycle. In Thai, the word is a mark of affection for loved ones, and in Hatha Yoga texts, it refers to roots, both of plants and of the energy flows known as Nadis. With these branching spiritual meanings, it's no wonder that the project Kanda exists in many forms. It Is at once a purely acoustic trio with flute, bass and drums, and at other times more electronic with the addition of effects and keyboards to the bass and the use of the EWI (electronic wind instrument). The EWI can take over the role of the bass, while the bass plays the melodies and chords.  Kanda is energetic and rhythmic as well as fragile and atmospheric all at once. Rhythmic complexity is used to pave the way towards new territories of sensation and groove. From it's conception, the trio immediately started developing it's unique essence. With this project, master of rhythm Stephane Galland aims to explore a new direction in his ever-evolving quest for fresh musical adventures.

Bernhard Lang's Monadology XXXVI is a radical "meta-composition". It deconstructs Chopin's Op. 10 Études through granular analysis, loops, and virtual remixing-destroying and reassembling the score into new sonic textures. The cycle consists of 12 Etüden. The last three are dedicated to Daan Vandewalle, the internationally acclaimed pianist renowned for his mastery of 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, who now brings them to this album.

All the sacred spirit of the Romantic era is embodied in these pages: Gabriel Faure's Requiem offers itself without artifice, frank and generous. Begun in 1887 and carefully reworked over the years, the work unfolds with a spiritual fervour bathed in a halo of crystalline honesty, carried by a fluid choral writing. Victor Jacob conducts the Orchestre de l'Opera Royal in revealing the 1893 version, the first complete edition of this masterpiece. Selected works by Brahms, Schubert, Rossini, and Rheinberger bridge the divine and the secular, transforming this album into a journey steeped in depth and melancholy, where the purity of the score draws the listener's mind into unsuspected reveries.

The six duos for violin and viola on this recording were composed between July and October 1783. A biographical sketch by Michael Haydn, published in 1808, two years after his death, recounts this in detail. "Michael Haydn was ordered by superiors to write duets for violin and alto. However, he was unable to deliver them by the appointed time because he was struck by a severe illness, which subsequently rendered him incapable of any work for longer than anyone expected; for the great man was incapable of giving a quid pro quo. He was threatened with the withdrawal of his salary if he delayed, because the master was presumably too little informed about Haydn's circumstances, or perhaps even deceived by false reports. Mozart, who visited him daily, learned of this, sat down, and wrote for his afflicted friend with such unceasing restlessness that the duets were completed in a few days and submitted under Michael Haydn's name. We often delighted ourselves later on with this excellently executed work of love, which our master also preserved in the original as a sanctuary, always honoring Mozart's immortal memory. Holy genius of friendship!"

For his second recital, Giorgi Gigashvili chose Prokofiev, a composer he has been playing intensively for ten years. Nicknamed the 'War Sonatas', these three masterpieces are, for him, "battles in themselves", sonatas to which one gives "heart and soul": "There is something almost inhuman in the writing. Sometimes it felt like Prokofiev wasn't asking me to play the piano, but to wrestle with it." The very personal title of the album - With all my breath and all my blood - reflects the voice of this young Georgian pianist, who has experienced the recent history of his country with great pain: "This music became the place where I poured my rage." His distinguished guest is his compatriot and friend Lisa Batiashvili, with whom he recorded a transcription for violin and piano of the famous "Dance of the Knights" from Romeo and Juliet, as well as a new work written especially for the duo by Josef Bardanashvili: To Giya, a tribute to Giya Kancheli.

This album celebrates Antonio Vivaldi's compositions for a particular vocal register, the alto, and for soloists from three different instrumental families: strings, woodwinds (the transverse flute) and brass (the horn). It includes the now famous arias from Orlando furioso and La verità in cimento, the violin concerto RV241, brought back from Venice in 1717 by Johann Georg Pisendel, a leading violinist, pupil and friend of Vivaldi, a flute concerto, not to mention his sacred vocal music, much of which is written for solo voice. A broad and eclectic panorama, a veritable 'best of' the Venetian composer, conceived by the musicians of Cafe Zimmermann, who have been playing Vivaldi's music with passion since it's creation more than 25 years ago (as evidenced by it's rich discography at Alpha), and the French countertenor Paul-Antoine Benos-Djian, 'enchanting in Vivaldi', writes Diapason, which praises his 'penetrating artistry' and 'unique personality'.

At a time when castrati reigned on Europe's stages, a few composers dared to write for female voices. Vivaldi, Porpora, and Porta explored the subtleties of this repertoire to create some of the finest sacred music scores of their era. Marina Viotti revives this forgotten heritage, placing the power of her voice at the service of the rich and moving melodies gathered here. Accompanied by Andres Gabetta and the Orchestre de l'Opera Royal, between theatricality and sacredness, Marina Viotti accomplishes the feat of bringing back to life the golden age of 18th-century sacred music, while paying tribute to all the women who, through their art, embodied the soul of the masters.