In Johann Sebastian Bach's six organ sonatas, three independent voices sound interchangeably. The right hand plays the highest voice, the left hand the middle voice and the feet the bass. A true musician wants to play each voice as if for the first time, responding spontaneously to what the others bring up. To bring such a sung conversation to life with hands and feet, he listens with equal attention and love to all the voices simultaneously. It is a miracle that it can be done. When it succeeds, it all seems simple and natural. A world opens up to the listener, in which it is hardly imaginable that there is anything more beautiful than a trio sonata by Bach.

Domenico Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas were most probably written for his patron Princess Maria Barbara of Portugal. Her love of music leads us to assume that she was suitably appreciative of these extraordinary gifts from her teacher and friend. The earlier sonatas are rooted in the Italian style, with the Sonata in G major, K.103 notable for it's eyebrow-raising lurches between major and minor tonalities. The influence of Spanish flamenco guitar can be heard in exotic embellishments and spicy harmonies in sonatas such as K.137 and K.303. Scarlatti's astonishing originality can be found throughout this entire collection.

For me, the Elgar Cello Concerto is about passion," says Gautier Capu�on, who has now recorded the work with the London Symphony Orchestra - which played at the concerto's premiere in 1919 - and it's new Music Director, Antonio Pappano. The companion piece for the Elgar is William Walton's cello concerto, premiered nearly 40 years later in 1957. "The Elgar is the quintessence of deep emotions, and the cello is exactly the right instrument to transmit them," continues Capu�on. "The Walton Cello Concerto is absolutely gorgeous, a magical piece It's very challenging, very difficult. There are the two cadenzas, which are very demanding on the cellist, and like the Elgar, structurally, the second movement is an extremely virtuosic dialogue with the orchestra." As Antonio Pappano explains, "This is not the first time the Elgar, which is a very strong, dark piece, has been paired with the Walton, and it's a wonderful coupling. Walton uses a richer harmonic palette, a more diverse orchestra, more colourful forces: vibraphone, celesta, harp. The music twinkles and has the mystery of the night about it. But it sings. It sings the way Elgar's concerto sings. At the end of the day it is a mood piece, and I think it shares that with the Elgar. And you can see the history of English music and how it progressed. I believe English music really has a lot to say if it's done with full-on intensity and drama, and the London Symphony Orchestra can produce that like no other.

Romain Leleu and his musical partner Julien Gernay, captivated by the sounds of the unique instruments in the Mus�e de la musique, invite us on a whirlwind tour around the land of the French trumpet and cornet. Other musicians have joined them to add a touch of horn and trombone to these pieces, whether originals or transcriptions of emblematic works from a 'Belle �poque' indeed.

Pipa master Gao Hong and guqin virtuoso Zhao Xiaoxia revisit some of China's best-known traditional pieces, such as Three Variations on the Plum Blossom and Yangguan Sandie, complementing them with improvisation and adaptation full of their own unique creative charm. Here, they masterfully combine the rich history of traditional culture with the avant-garde energy of contemporary art to create a work that is both a philosophical meditation and a spiritual journey.

One of the leading keyboard players of her generation, Sophie Yates is renowned as a performer, educator, and broadcaster. She writes of this programme: 'The Versailles of the seventeenth century was very different from the huge, opulent palace we know today... it was only in the last quarter of the century - after twenty years of work by architects, designers, and the landscape gardener Le N�tre - that Louis XIV moved there permanently... Music was extremely important at the court of Louis XIV (1638 - 1715) and, as such, provided work and patronage for a huge number of composers, dancers, teachers, instrument makers, and theatrical animateurs, supporting a whole artistic culture. The works in the present anthology are all drawn from this era of creative abundance... The cast of extraordinary characters who appear on this recording were all nurtured in the prestigious and wealthy court of Louis XIV. Nevertheless, their music is refined and intimate, prizing expressiveness over display and delighting in the colour and resonance of the harpsichord.'

A new name appears in our collection of rarities: Richard Ro�ler, born in 1880 in Riga, the Latvian capital, trained at the Berlin Music Academy and later highly esteemed there as a professor of piano from 1918 to 1953, was one of those late-Romantic composers deeply influenced by Johannes Brahms. Unlike his Hungarian contemporary Bela Bartok, Ro�ler remained steadfastly loyal to the worldview of his great role model. When he realized, around 40, that aesthetic developments were passing him by, he limited his output to a few occasional pieces. This is all the more regrettable, as the two newly recorded works here reveal a significant and profound talent capable of creating distinctive characters using traditional musical means.

Franz Schubert's famous String Quintet, one of the major works of classical chamber music, in a stunning version for five Saxophones.

Brahms's two masterpieces for cello and piano are heard in new recordings by Emanuel Gruber and Arnon Erez. The Jerusalem Post wrote that Emanuel Gruber is "one of our great artists" citing "his extraordinary capacity for projecting the deepest meaning of the music". Awarded the Pablo Casals prize by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, he also won the Concert Artists' Guild Auditions early in his career. Arnon Erez has performed in major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Beethoven Halle in Bonn, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Musikverein in Vienna, Wigmore Hall in London and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Horn Universe - Works for Horn, Tenor and Orchestra by Telemann, Mozart, Britten and Kikta Although nameless, the Suite in F Major TWV 44:7/55: F4 by Telemann is extremely pictorial: In the early 18th century, the horn is still somewhat new as an ensemble music instrument, and it serves to evoke the rural. This piece takes us outdoors. Like any French-style suite, it begins with a slow and majestic Overture, almost celestial [...] This recording allows us to discover a new completion of Mozart's Concerto in D, with a reworked second movement (Andante) by horn player Marco Elia Righi in 2020. Not only did he bring the Rondo with Mozart's original melodies back to life, he also added a second movement, Andante: Written in consideration of the natural horn's technique, this new movement is quite reminiscent of the style of the slow movements of the other concertos, while perfectly ?tting into the continuity of the Allegro. Marco shows real Mozartian taste, and brings a little freshness into this familiar music. What a pleasure to rediscover Mozart! The Serenade by Britten begins and ends with calls, not of a bugle as evoked in the Nocturne, but of a horn. In this period of con?ict when many deaths were to be deplored, one cannot ignore the thought of a death knell, recalled by the two horn solos which frame the Serenade. These calls, played without the valves, let the tone of F and it's natural harmonics sound the way the bugle without valves can produce them. On the other hand, not only does Britten's choice highlight the beauty of the horn and the talent of it's interpreter, but these sounds add a plaintive and painful idea that announces everything that the tenor declares. [...] As a great admirer of all the works in this album, hornist Herve Joulain cannot hide his excitement at presenting the Concerto for Horn and Strings by Valery Kikta. The composer is of Ukrainian origin but has been living and teaching in Moscow for decades. It was pure chance that led Joulain to discover the recording by Valery Zhavoronkov, while looking for educational information for the completion of his horn book. He immediately fell in love with the piece, Kikta having mastered the art of playing with half a dozen major thematic elements, which he reuses very happily, not to say brilliantly. These elements are sometimes declamatory, sometimes rhythmic, sometimes melodic, sometimes obstinate, o?ering the instrument a palette of unexpected colors to play with. [...] A great new recording, interpreted by Herve Joulain (Horn), Karlis Rerihs (Horn: Telemann), Kaelig Boche (Tenor: Britten), Sinfonietta Riga Chamber Orchestra and Kaspars Adamsons.

Baroque bad boy Francesc Valls shook the music world by not conforming to standard practice and using unconventional harmonies and gratuitous dissonance. Ensemble Bachwerkvokal led by Gordon Safari take this controversial Catalan composer from the time of Bach out of the archives and present his extraordinary works for the first time in this world premiere recording.

Niccolo Paganini was already a legend in his lifetime as the "Devil's Violinist"-yet far fewer people, then or now, know that he was also one of the finest guitarists of his era, composing countless works for and with the guitar alongside his famously virtuosic violin pieces. Now, Salzburg's star violinist Benjamin Schmid and guitar virtuoso Petrit ceku embark on a mission to revive these overlooked gems, which hover between Mozart and Haydn on one side and Italian bel canto on the other. Joined by Florian Eggner and Benedict Mitterbauer, they present the Guitar Quartet No. 10, the Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Guitar, and the Trio for Violin, Guitar, and Cello-works of diverse genres, only partially published during Paganini's lifetime. These pieces blend breathtaking virtuosity (the Quartet could pass as a "disguised violin concerto") with playful charm and the intimate flair of Romantic salon music.

PEDACITO DE TIERRA is a deeply personal work led by GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist Jose Antonio Zayas Caban, rooted in his vision to honor the stories of the Puerto Rican diaspora in the Twin Cities. While grounded in local voices, the piece resonates far beyond Minnesota - speaking to the experiences of Puerto Ricans across the United States and echoing themes shared by immigrant communities everywhere: displacement and belonging, memory and identity, longing and resilience. Composed by Angelica Negron and performed by Zayas Caban alongside saxophonist Ryan Smith and pianist Casey Rafn, the work layers oral histories, electronics, and chamber instrumentation to explore the complexity of cultural identity. Shaped by the voices of Puerto Rican storytellers, PEDACITO DE TIERRA reflects Jose's commitment to lifting up community narratives through music that is as nuanced and resilient as the people it represents.

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.

Composer Michael Hersch adapts the tragedy of Medea from Ovid's�Metamorphoses�in his new opera for soprano Sarah Maria Sun, the vocal ensemble Schola Heidelberg, and Ensemble Musikfabrik. With librettist Stephanie Fleischmann. Hersch's setting underscores the profound psychological trauma at the heart of the tale with a characteristically powerful, bracing score.