Emil von Sauer and Conrad Ansorge had the privilege of studying under the legendary Franz Liszt. Liszt himself never claimed to be a teacher but rather an advisor. But anyway, for both of them, these lessons with the world-famous composer and pianist influenced and increased their style and extraordinary capabilities. With this recording Capriccio presents two outstanding and unjustly forgotten piano concertos which shows the deep understanding of musical forms and structures and versatility of the Pupils of Franz Liszt.

Baroque giants La Serenissima return with their new recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, among other concerti for ensemble by Antonio Vivaldi. Recognized for 'whipping up a storm with Vivaldi,' La Serenissima is 'one of Britain's best-loved chamber orchestras' (The Telegraph) known for championing a host of neglected Italian baroque composers and its outstanding performances. Uniquely, the group's entire repertoire is edited from source material by founder and violinist Adrian Chandler. Praise for Vivaldi recordings by La Serenissima on Signum Classics: "After being obsessed by the composer and his music world for more than 30 years, Chandler by now is Vivaldi incarnate" - The Times

Songs in Flight features world premiere recordings of Shawn E. Okpebholo's complete song cycle for which the album is named, along with four additional art songs-one from each of his other song cycles - building upon the themes and messages of his work, performed by Grammy-winning and -nominated artists known for their dedication to cultural and historical music projects. Drawing inspiration from the Freedom on the Move database of advertisements for runaway enslaved individuals, Songs in Flight explores their untold stories over twelve songs with texts by poets Tsitsi Jaji, Crystal Simone Smith, and Tyehimba Jess. The work incorporates styles including spirituals, folk tunes, elegies, and protest songs, each song offering a unique historical narrative and emotional depth. A celebrated figure in contemporary classical music, Okpebholo has been described as "devastatingly beautiful" by The Washington Post. Songs in Flight continues his mission to create impactful, narrative-driven music, bringing new dimensions to historical stories. Performers include Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, Rhiannon Giddens, celebrated for her work in reviving African American folk traditions; Grammy-winning baritone Will Liverman, praised as a "voice for this historic moment" (Washington Post); Grammy-nominated countertenor Reginald Mobley, renowned for his powerful interpretations across diverse repertoire; Karen Slack, acclaimed soprano with a "sizeable voice that captures vacillating emotions" (New York Times); and pianist Paul Sanchez, praised as "the ideal interpreter... performing with clear virtuosity" (Fanfare). Saxophonist Julian Velasco, winner of Cedille's inaugural Emerging Artist Competition, joins in two of the songs following the cycle. Honoring the resilience of historical figures while acknowledging modern-day struggles with racial injustice, including references to Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin, Okpebholo's work reclaims the humanity and voice of these people, making their lives and struggles resonate through this intricate, soulful collection of songs.

Unlike his namesake Harry, Cypriani Potter did not learn his craft at Hogwarts, but with renowned British composers and then put the finishing touches to his music in Vienna - above all with Ludwig van Beethoven, who undoubtedly taught him some particularly effective tricks. In any case, there is an unmistakable magic in his works: at times it is delightful melodies, at others dramatic energy build-ups or rhythmically urgent episodes that give his music such an appeal that it is worth recording all of his surviving symphonies (nine, after all) and garnishing them with a few smaller pieces - in the present program, for example, with the Overture to Shakespeare's Tempest and with the original Concertante for piano and four strings on the popular theme La Follia, which Potter animates to a veritable outburst of temperament.

This program spotlights Gabriel Fauré’s orchestrated songs and his music for the stage, of which his suite from the incidental music for Pelléas et Mélisande includes some of his best-loved music. Performances of Fauré’s spectacular Wagnerian drama Prométhée are a real rarity, while the eloquent Shylock suite, based on Shakespeare, contains some of his most elaborate symphonic music. Fauré orchestrated only a small number of his more than 100 songs, but these include the transcendentally beautiful love song Les Roses d’Ispahan, with its harmonic subtleties and gorgeous coda.

Star pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard presents an anthology from Gyorgy Kurtag's Jatekok (Games), recorded in the composer's presence and under his artistic guidance. In his extensive series of Jatekok, Kurtag realizes the spontaneity of a child exploring the piano with the compositional means of his adventurous, avant-garde idiom. Recording such an extensive collection of Jatekok is an important statement for Aimard, who has developed an intimate artistic friendship with the composer over decades. A renowned champion of twentieth-century music, Pierre-Laurent Aimard has released multiple acclaimed albums in his exclusive contract with PENTATONE, including Messiaen's Catalogue d'Oiseaux (2018) and Visions de l'Amen (2022), along with Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata & Eroica Variations (2021). He also joined Tamara Stefanovich in Etudes and Frames (2023), with music by Vassos Nicolaou, and recorded Bartok's Piano Concertos with the San Francisco Symphony and Esa-Pekka Salonen (2023). The miniature nature of Kurtag's Jatekok makes them an unexpected, yet logical successor of Aimard's acclaimed album Schubert Landler (2024), which consisted of dances that the pianist often combines with Kurtag's short pieces in live performances.

What happens when the illustrious brass sections of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic come together? The answer: The Philharmonic Brass Making it's debut in Vienna's Musikverein in April 2023 the group will come together for recording, tours and education work. Comprising some of the best-known faces in the brass world from Berlin, Vienna and their friends, the group includes Sarah Willis, horn and Paul Halwax, tuba. Their Debut album 'Overture!' was conducted by Tugan Sokhiev and released through Decca Classics. Now it's time for the following up album through the new label Supreme Classics: Italiana! Conducted by Maestro Riccardo Muti includes virtuoso arrangements of some of the best-known music including Verdi's Sinfonia di Nabucco, Rossini: Guillaume Tell - Overture and many more.

Malcolm Martineau follows up his acclaimed complete song collections of Duparc, Poulenc and Faure with a double album celebrating the complete songs of Maurice Ravel, performed by a bumper roster of singers: Lorna Anderson, Julie Boulianne, John Chest, Sarah Dufresne Dafydd Jones, Simon Keenlyside, Paula Murrihy, Nicky Spence and William Thomas. French composer Maurice Ravel known for his musical craftsmanship and clear style drew on elements of baroque, neoclassicism, modernism and later on, jazz in his compositions. His vocal works span 4 decades, from 1893 to 1933. Scottish pianist Malcolm Martineau is recognised at the highest international level as one of the UK's leading accompanists, performing worldwide alongside the world's greatest singers and with a discography of over 100 albums, including a number of award-winning recordings.

Ino was the wife of Athamas and thus the daughter-in-law of Aeolus, the god of the winds. For reasons that are not entirely clear, she incurred the resentment of Hera, the wife of the gods, who confused Athamas to such an extent that he shot one of his own sons and also wanted to kill the second - whereupon Ino threw herself into the sea with her offspring. In the end, mother and daughter are transformed into maritime deities. When Georg Philipp Telemann set this material to music, he was already well past eighty; musically, however, he exploded like a young man with a bright future ahead of him. The Ino of our new recording comes from the ranks of the Boston Early Music Festival: Amanda Forsythe, most recently celebrated as the irresistible "Serva Padrona", opens an aria recital with this demanding role, which portrays the opera composer Telemann from monodrama to lively comedy and looks ahead to upcoming productions.

One of the foremost vocal chamber ensembles active today, New York Polyphony is renowned for it's innovative programming ranging from Gregorian chant to contemporary commissions. On Sky of my Heart, the selection spans over four hundred years of musical history and bears witness to this vocal ensemble's commitment to discovering and developing new works that augment it's core early music repertoire. Some of the works performed here deal with the essential themes of life, death and the afterlife and have been inspired by personal bereavement (Smith) or by the impact of Covid confinement (Moravec). Others are steeped in a spiritual atmosphere, whether religious (Byrd, Moody, Tavener and McGlade) or meditative (Naito). The contemporary works, some of which were written at the behest of New York Polyphony, are firmly rooted in the rich history of plainsong, while at the same time featuring some very contemporary harmonies. The vocal ensemble is joined by LeStrange Viols in three pieces: My Days by Nico Muhly, a ritualized tribute to the early 17th-century English composer Orlando Gibbons, The Silver Swan by Gibbons himself, which brings the programme to an appropriately quiet and poignant close, and Byrd's Agnus Dei. The viol ensemble adds a colour that is both appropriate for Gibbons and original in it's treatment of sound.

The fourth and final volume in this important series! This new album showcases guitarist Roberto Moronn Perez performing works that are fundamental milestones of the guitar repertoire of the 20th century. Included are works by Alexandre Tansman, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Hans Haug, Joan Manen and Federico Mompou. These works were also performed by Segovia himself during his lifetime. The genesis for this unique series is a collection of pieces recovered in May 2001 at Segovia's archive in Spain. All pieces in the archive were dedicated to Segovia or commissioned by him, involving composers from eight countries. This new album was recorded in the lovely acoustics of Holy Trinity Church, Weston, Hertfordshire, U.K. It was produced, recorded, edited and mastered by the outstanding U.K. engineer John Taylor.

Supersize Polyphony is a celebration of large-scale choral works from the 16th century, performed here by the Armonico Consort and the Choir of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, under their musical directors Christopher Monks and Geoffrey Webber. The unique programme features epic motets, such as Thomas Tallis' Spem in Alium and Alessandro Striggio's Ecce Beatam Lucem, alongside his rarely performed 60 part Missa sopra Ecco Si Beato Giorno. Interspersed with the serene beauty of ethereal chants by Hildegard of Bingen, this new recording presents works of magnitude and polyphonic drama in stellar performances by two of the UK's leading choral ensembles. Now Available as a CD / SACD Surround Sound album.

This seventy-fourth volume of the Vivaldi Edition of the na�ve label is dedicated to the opera Arsilda, a work of great dramatic variety that greatly stimulates the insatiable imagination of the Venetian. This major work is defended here with ardor and fluidity by Andrea Marcon, his musicians of La Cetra, and seven singers in perfect artistic communion, including the mezzo-sopranos Benedetta Mazzucato and Vasilisa Berzhanskaya in the two main roles (Arsilda, and Lisea).

Ukrainian-American pianist Anna Shelest continues her exploration of works by women composers in Donna Voce Volume 3 - Clara Schumann & Cecile Chaminade: Concerti & Piano Works. Featured are Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7 and Cecile Chaminade's Concertstuck for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 40 with Neeme Jarvi conducting the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Anna Shelest also performs works for solo piano by each composer and is joined by her husband Dmitri Shelest in Chaminade's Pieces Romantiques, Op. 55 for piano four hands. Featuring Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7 and Cecile Chaminade's Concertstuck for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 40 with Neeme Jarvi conducting the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Anna Shelest also performs works for solo piano by each composer and is joined by her husband Dmitri Shelest in Chaminade's Pieces Romantiques, Op. 55 for piano four hands.

UBIQUE lives on the border between enigmatic lyricism and atmospheric distortion. Through a combination of sounds, pitches, and textural nuances, low deep drones envelop lyrical materials and harmonies that breathe in and out of focus throughout the progress of the piece. The flow of the music is primarily guided by continuous expansion and contraction - of various kinds and durations - as it streams with subtle interruptions and frictions but ever moving forward in the overall structure. The work is inspired by the notion of being everywhere at the same time, an enveloping omnipresence, while simultaneously focusing on details within the density of each particle, echoed in various forms of fragmentation and interruption and in the sustain of certain elements of a sound beyond their natural resonance - throughout the piece, sounds are both reduced to their smallest particles and their atmospheric presence expanded towards the infinite. As with my music generally, the inspiration is not something I am trying to describe through the music as such - it is a way to intuitively approach and work with the core energy, structure, atmosphere and material of the piece. UBIQUE is 45 minutes in duration and is written in 11 parts, for flutes, grand piano, 2 cellos and pre-constructed electronics. - Anna Thorvaldsdottir