The son of a mill owner, Josef Myslivecek (1737-1781) was born in Prague. After a brief period as a student of literature and philosophy, he started to study organ with Joseph Seger and composition with the renowned Frantisek Vaclav Habermann. After his success with his first symphonies he decided to go to Venice to study voice and composition with Giovanni Battista Pescetti, not only to perfect himself as a musician but probably also to integrate himself into the great operatic tradition of one of the most productive and lively cities of the time. Myslivecek's first opera 'Medea' was a huge success and soon he became the first internationally renowned Bohemian opera composer. During a stay with Padre Martini, he met Mozart in Bologna, who was greatly fascinated by the Bohemian's musical qualities. This 2-CD set presents the works for keyboard and piano: two sets of six sonatas and a Divertimento. The title specifies "for harpsichord or pianoforte, with a violin part ad libitum", which means the violin part is optional, the main part being played by the keyboard. The music remains firmly anchored in it's period, exploring all the musical potential that classicism has to offer: strong structures, refinement and charm, as well as elegant and cantabile melodies. Played on a copy of a Walter fortepiano from 1792 by Marius Bartoccini and violinist Rossella Croce. Bartoccini successfully recorded the complete keyboard music by Myslivecek for Brilliant Classics.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, and priest, best known for his dynamic instrumental concertos and innovative orchestral writing. Born in Venice, Vivaldi was trained in both music and theology, eventually becoming a violin teacher and composer at the Ospedale della Piet�, an orphanage for girls with an exceptional music program. His tenure there produced many of his finest instrumental works and helped shape the distinctive Venetian Baroque style. Vivaldi's concertos revolutionized instrumental music by exploring the expressive and technical possibilities of each instrument. His violin concertos expanded the concerto form, using clear contrasts between soloist and orchestra and developing the ritornello structure that would influence composers such as J.S. Bach. His flute concertos, composed later in his career, demonstrate his sensitivity to the instrument's lyrical qualities and agility. These concertos were among the earliest significant contributions to the flute repertoire and reflect the growing popularity of the transverse flute in the early 18th century. Vivaldi also wrote around 40 bassoon concertos, an unprecedented number for the time. These works reveal his deep understanding of the instrument's expressive range, from playful and energetic to dark and solemn. They remain central to the bassoon's solo literature today. This new recording presents the first recording of concertos which missed certain movements, and which are completed by reconstructing from existing musical materials, by Alessandro Ciccolini, achieving cohesive and stylistically faithful reconstructions. Ciccolini has already works extensively reconstructing Vivaldi operas, for publication by Barenreiter and Boosey & Hawkes, and performed by Alan Curtis for DG. Played by Tommaso Rossi (flute solo), Alessandro Ciccolini (violin solo & conductor), Giovanni Battista Graziadio (bassoon solo) and the Compagnia de Violini.

Celebrating Steve Reich's 90th birthday and the 20th anniversary of Colin Currie Group, this landmark release brings together a number of Reich's iconic works. United by the elegant symmetry of sextet forces, these pieces showcase the rhythmic vitality, harmonic clarity, and emotional depth that have defined Reich's music for generations. From the scintillating textures of Sextet, the driving power and poignancy of Double Sextet, and the hypnotic time-bending sonorities of Six Marimbas, the album offers a journey through Reich's unparalleled sound world. Colin Currie Group's fresh interpretation of Dance Patterns adds a lesser-known gem to this celebration, highlighting the composer's enduring fascination with movement and pattern. Recorded with the insight and precision that have become hallmarks of the ensemble, this album is both a tribute and a testament to Reich's lifelong influence and to the Colin Currie Group's deep connection with his music. These works do more than mesmerise-they uplift, entrance, and remind us why Reich remains one of the most significant voices in contemporary music.

At the close of the seventeenth century, Farina, Minei, and Netti created some of the most popular pieces of their day. Their dialogues for soprano and bass offer a colorful palette of emotions. This recording presents the first modern performance of several pieces that once enchanted Neapolitan evenings. Their interplay of contrasting passions is a breathtaking musical postcard from the Bay of Naples.

Chopin Piano Concertos 1 & 2, recorded live with the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra Fr�d�ric Chopin wrote two piano concertos, which are now considered among the most important works of the Romantic period. Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, was composed first in 1829 but was not published until later. It showcases Chopin's youthful virtuosity and lyrical musical language, particularly in the slow middle movement. The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, followed in 1830 and seems more mature, with an even stronger emphasis on the piano over the orchestra. Both concertos are considered key works for Chopin's style: full of poetic melodies, brilliant technique, and sensitive expressiveness.

Klaudia Rabiega: Dona Nobis Pacem Sacred Choral Works

Step into the luminous world of Baroque splendor with Jordi Savall's latest album, a breathtaking interpretation of Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Te Deum and In Natitvitatem canticum. Renowned for his profound musicality and historical insight, Savall invites listeners on a spiritual journey, illuminating the sacred beauty and emotional depth of these iconic works. Under Savall's masterful direction, Le Concert des Nations and the Choir of La Capella Reial de Catalunya deliver performances of exquisite clarity and passion, capturing the essence of 17th-century French court music. This album is not just a recording-it's a celebration of faith, artistry, and the timeless power of music to uplift the soul.

Blessed with a captivating, richly sonorous singing voice, Japan-born, Seattle-based Valerie Joyce recorded two albums for audiophile label Chesky Records in the 2000s. The first of them, 2005's critically acclaimed New York Blue, featured the young singer supported by a crack Big Apple jazz band: formidable pianist Andy Ezrin, alternating bassists John Hebert and Tim Lefebvre, and drum stalwart Gene Jackson. They are augmented on some tracks by the veteran session musician Lawrence Feldman's smoky saxophone. Joyce's intriguing repertoire blends deft interpretations of well-known evergreens from The Great American Songbook ('Darn That Dream') with jazz standards (Miles Davis' 'Blue In Green'), jazz-tinged R&B ('Fever'), rock (Jimi Hendrix's 'Little Wing'), and pop (The Beatles' 'Golden Slumbers'). Bolstered with new liner notes featuring a recent interview with Valerie Joyce, New York Blue is reissued in 2026 as part of the Chesky Original Masters series on 180g One Step Pressing Vinyl LP and SACD Hybrid Stereo.

Delos is thrilled to embark on a new journey with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and it's Music Director Stephane Deneve. What better statement of intent for their first album on the label than releasing the world premiere recording of three works by native St. Louisan and Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy�-winning composer Kevin Puts? Dedicated to the SLSO and Stephane, Concerto for Orchestra was written in response to the horrific school shooting that occurred in Uvalde in 2022. Silent Night Elegy is drawn from Kevin's acclaimed opera, which adapts Joyeux Noel, the award-winning film that tells the story of the spontaneous ceasefires along the Western Front on the first Christmas Eve of World War I. Inspired by Guillaume de Machaut, Virelai was commissioned for the opening concert of Stephane's tenure as Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. This album celebrates the SLSO's dynamic partnership with Stephane and demonstrates the orchestra's commitment to artistic excellence and inclusive musical experiences.

Discover the allure of Gran Teatro La Fenice, one of Italy's most iconic theatres and among Europe's grandest opera houses. Known for hosting groundbreaking opera premieres in the 19th century, La Fenice has staged legendary works from the masters of the Bel Canto era-Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi. Each year, a quarter-million visitors from around the globe are drawn to this historic venue, while the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice now perform worldwide, including a celebrated appearance at Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie in July 2024. Now, Teatro La Fenice proudly presents a collection of it's finest opera recordings from the past 30 years, available for the first time on CD. Featuring between 10 and 15 carefully selected operas each year, these recordings bring the magic of La Fenice's world-renowned performances to your home. Indulge in the timeless beauty of Italian opera at it's best.

A veritable musical fresco inspired by the cyclical course of the sun, Circa Diem - "almost a day" - invites the listener on a sonic journey following the rhythm of light. From the peaceful darkness of the deep night to the gentle dawn, from the intense brightness of the zenith to the enveloping warmth of the golden hour, to the shifting shadows of dusk, each stage of the day finds it's musical resonance here. The trio Les Heures Bleues weaves it's common thread around Tomaso Albinoni's Opus 1. A first opus for a first project: the idea of a beginning, where all the musical trajectories to come are already hinted at. The cycle of a day thus mirrors the great cycles of life: gestation, birth, maturity, tranquillity, then evanescence. Four sonatas by Albinoni have been chosen and set in dialogue with different moments in the solar cycle, revealing the expressive richness of this Baroque music in the light of passing time. To anchor this one-day journey in our present, contemporary composers were invited to create works based on the light/sonata correspondence that inspired them most: Virginie Tasset, Max Charue, Patrick Leterme, Jimmy Bonesso, and Muhiddin D�rr�oglu. Their contemporary perspectives extend and renew Albinoni's legacy, inscribing this timeless cycle in a resolutely modern sensibility.

The tracks of this disc contain equally as many sensitive palimpsests (elaborations on an earlier composer's style) through which other emotions vibrate. The transcriptions they present only depart from the letter to better reveal-and revere-it's spirit. Our greatest wish would be that what these admirable pieces lose in authenticity, they recover thanks to the enthusiasm, fervor, and love that have guided us throughout our work. Because, in this field precisely, it is less a question of proving than of experiencing.

Internationally acclaimed concert organist Zuzana Ferjencikova, who is currently working on a complete recording of Jean Guillou's organ works for AEOLUS, can be heard on her new album "Legendes" with her own transcriptions of works by Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, and Liszt. The centerpieces are Beethoven's Grande Sonate Pathetique and Liszt's second legend of St. Francis, as well as Ferjencikova's fascinating arrangement of the aria "Tristis est anima mea" from his oratorio "Christus." The Seifert instrument used for the recording is at the heart of the numerous musical activities of "Orgelwelten Ratingen" and, thanks to it's tonal diversity, is extremely versatile. The new SACD (stereo and 5.1 multichannel surround) reproduces the sound of the instrument, distributed in several locations in the room, in all it's multidimensionality with remarkable plasticity. Die international gefragte Konzertorganistin Zuzana Ferjencikova, die bei AEOLUS an einer Gesamtaufnahme der Orgelwerke von Jean Guillou arbeitet, ist auf ihrem neuen Album "Legendes" mit ihren eignenen Transkriptionen von Werken Beethovens, Mozarts, Schumanns und Liszts zu horen. I'm Zentrum stehen dabei vor Beethovens Grande Sonate Pathetique und Liszts zweite Franziskuslegende sowie Ferjencikovas faszinierende Bearbeitung der Arie "Tristis est anima mea" aus dessen Oratorium "Christus". Das fur die Aufnahme verwendete Instrument der Firma Seifert steht i'm Zentrum der zahlreichen musikalischen Aktivitaten der "Orgelwelten Ratingen" und ist Dank seiner Klangfarbenvielfalt extrem vielseitig einsetzbar. Die neue SACD (Stereo und 5.1 Multichannel Surround) gibt den Klang des an mehreren Orten i'm Raum verteilten Instrumentes in seiner Mehrdimensionalitat au�erst plastisch wieder.

Brooklyn based SydeBoob Duo is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of contemporary performance in repertoire for soprano and flute, bringing their virtuosity to ambitious works that highlight their committment to broad representation alongside the highest aesthetic standards. On this debut full length release, they perform works by Rebecca Saunders, Eric Moe, Anthony Braxton,�Ramin Akhavijou,�Max Johnson, and�Beat Furrer that are both landmark works for the instrumentation and core works that have shaped Sydeboob as an ensemble.

Giovanni Antonini and Sheng-Fang Chiu form a leading recorder duo who enjoy exploring varied and unexpected repertoires. This album is named after a piece composed by Giovanni Sollima in 2024: it pays tribute to William Byrd and combines the tenor recorder with the sopranino recorder, the perfect imitator of birdsong. This programme spans the ages, from the art of diminution and improvisation in the 15th century to Bart�k's duets from the 1930s-originally composed for two violins-via the refined duets of Jacques Hotteterre in the 18th century and a sonata by Telemann from 1727. Don't miss Nuovo ricercare No. 4 (1973) by Amico Dolci, child prodigy of the flute and son of the great sociologist and pacifist Danilo Dolci. The two instrumentalists have mischievously chosen to highlight this quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet: '[playing the recorder] is as easy as lying: control these holes with your fingers and thumb, blow with your mouth, and it will produce the most eloquent music...'

Marc-Antoine Charpentier, with his Messe a quatre choeurs, delivers a unique work that reflects a rare encounter between French tradition and the splendor of Roman Baroque. Inspired by the grand polychoral works of Gabrieli and Benevoli whom he listened to attentively during his stay in Italy he unfolds a choral dialogue of exceptional breadth. Four vocal and instrumental ensembles face each other, respond, and intertwine in a play of echoes and timbres that transcends the liturgical space. Jean-Baptiste Nicolas brings an exalted momentum to this masterpiece of sacred music, combining stylistic precision with interpretative finesse.

More than a decade after he devoted his Deutsche Grammophon debut album to Mozart, Jan Lisiecki revisits the composer's oeuvre. "Engaging with the genius of Mozart's music is a true privilege. It is characterized by purity, elegance, emotional depth, intellectual challenge, and profound rewards," says the pianist. He is joined by the Bamberger Symphoniker and Manfred Honeck for this album featuring the Piano Concertos Nos. 9 & 22. "Within the extensive collection of 27 concertos composed for the piano by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, these two concertos, both In the key of E flat major, emerge as singular masterpieces."

Rare Italian Madrigals Composers from the upper drawer number several well-known names (music quality increasing a lot over the century), among them principally Giaches de Wert (1535-1596), Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613), Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), and, not least, Luca Marenzio (1553-1599), to whom the present CD is entirely devoted. In his rather short lifespan, he managed to write about 500 madrigals between 1580 and 1599. In those two decades, his music developed immensely, reaching it's climax in the last ten years of his life. Though continuing to satisfy his great popular following with loads of small, lighthearted songs, Marenzio excelled also in writing ambitious madrigal cycles, of which two are recorded here: Baci soavi e cari (five 6-part madrigals describing several aspects of kissing) and, maybe his magnum opus, Capitolo - Se quel dolor (ten 6-part madrigals delving into one of the period's favourite subjects: melancholia).

The four symphonies of Arvo Part were composed over a span of forty-five years, and bear little or no relationship with one another - four individual pieces that represent his output at separate parts of his creative journey. The First Symphony was composed in 1963, shortly after Part had graduated from the Tallinn Conservatory. It's two-movement structure looks to the baroque - Canons and a Prelude and Fugue - but the harmonic language is extremely advanced, giving off a distinct whiff of twelve-tone serialism. The Second Symphony, from 1966, in three movements, again employs a combination of serialism and textures hinting at Penderecki and the Polish school. Also in three movements, the Third Symphony (1971) reflects the time Part spent in the late 1960s studying chant and mediaeval music. Symphony No. 4 'Los Angeles' came much later (in 2007 - 08) and now the style is directly inspired by sacred music. Part took as his models two great litanies of the Orthodox Church: the Canon of Repentance, and the Canon to the Holy Guardian Angel. Unusually scored for strings, harp, timpani, and percussion, this final work is also cast in three movements. With her elegant, expressive body language, natural stage presence, and infectious musicality, Eva Ollikainen is one of the leading conductors of our time. This former student of Leif Segerstam and Jorma Panula has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra since 2020.

Legacy: Lutoslawski, Swider, Lason

With these works for accordion and orchestra, Ksenija Sidorova and Paavo J�rvi pay tribute to the music of the Baltic countries. The Latvian accordionist and the Estonian conductor, who have been collaborating for over 10 years, recorded in P�rnu with the festival orchestra created by Paavo, a luxury ensemble composed of the best musicians from the greatest European orchestras. Composed in 2007, Erkki-Sven T��r's concerto, entitled Prophecy, explores the concept of the Seer, a person who can see the future but is often despised by the society in which they live. The concerto exploits the full power and range of the symphony orchestra, in total interconnection with the soloist: 'It's the most technically complicated work I've ever played!' says Ksenija. The concerto Dances by another Estonian composer, T�nu K�rvits, was written for Sidorova and premiered in P�rnu in 2024. The composer wanted to immerse himself in the accordion in order to write his work, even going so far as to learn how to play it, he drew out some unprecedented sounds from it; The Fruit of Silence is the work by Ksenija's compatriot, Peteris Vasks. He arranged one of his pieces for choir and piano, based on the words of Mother Teresa.

Olga Pashchenko and Il Gardellino present a third recording of Mozart's piano concertos. Following two volumes (Alpha 726 and 942) that were very well received by the press and the public: 'The most exhilarating "authentic" Mozart I have ever heard,' wrote The Spectator. In January 1776, Mozart composed his Piano Concerto No. 6, followed by the Eighth in April. Then aged 20, he did not want to shock the aristocracy of Salzburg and wrote simple music, but music that transports us 'to the calm gentleness of a paradise garden, in the manner of the Elysian Fields evoked by Gluck and Rameau', as Olivier Messiaen said. Completed on 30 September, 1784, Concerto K 465 remains shrouded in mystery as to when it was first performed. It is thought that Mozart premiered it in February 1785 in Vienna in front of his father Leopold, who wrote to his daughter Maria Anna that Wolfgang had triumphed and that the emperor took off his hat and exclaimed 'bravo Mozart!' As with all her recordings, Olga Pashchenko has chosen appropriate instruments, a copy of an Anton Walter fortepiano (ca. 1792) by Paul McNulty and a copy of a Spath & Schmahl tangent piano (Regensburg, 1794) by Chris Maene.

Florence Price reached her musical maturity in Chicago during the 1930s - the decade in which she made a famous debut with the city's orchestra and produced two substantial concertos. The Piano Concerto in One Movement contains some of her most beautiful music set alongside moments of Romantic bravura. Violin Concerto No. 1 seems never to have been performed during her lifetime but is the most expansive of her concertos and is richly orchestrated. The later Violin Concerto No. 2 is a much more compact work, cast in one expressive movement. Dances in the Canebrakes, originally for piano, evokes 19th-century African American life, heard here in William Grant Still's orchestration.

There are moments in music when time seems to pause, and with Arcangelo Corelli's music, I have experienced that enchanted stillness-where each note is not just heard but felt deeply. His music, elegant and radiant, is the gentle whisper of a bygone era, yet it breathes timeless warmth and light. Corelli's art is a delicate conversation between violin and continuo, a living breath of harmony and counterpoint that dances with noble grace. Each phrase unfolds like a tender story, where voices seek, answer, and embrace one another-like cherished friends sharing secrets across the ages. It was through my mentor, Ryo Terakado, and his luminous recording of the Violin Sonatas, Op. 5 that I first stepped into this radiant world. Since then, Corelli's melodies have been a constant companion-like a soft glow in the twilight, a source of inspiration and solace. Corelli's influence extends far beyond my own story. His style shaped the musical language of generations-admired openly by Francois Couperin, absorbed deeply into the work of Jean-Marie Leclair, and echoed, even centuries later, by virtuosi such as Pablo Sarasate and Niccolo Paganini. His music is both spiritual and earthly-a beacon of simplicity and profound beauty. I am deeply grateful to Ryo Terakado for guiding me to this wellspring of grace, to Kaori Uemura and Francois Guerrier for their artistry, and to our magical producer Guido Tichelman and the Byucksan Corporation for nurturing this project. -�Eun-Shik Kim

The Ensemble InterContemporain and it's musical director Pierre Bleuse continue their monographs on the great figures of contemporary musical composition. After the multi-award-winning Ligeti, it is the composer Unsuk Chin who is celebrated here. Of Korean origin, she moved to Germany in the 1980s. Her music shines with an immediate sensuality, and the inexhaustible transformations of her instrumental polyphony produce unprecedented sound constellations. This programme presents her piece Gougalon (2009/12), which evokes the memory of the travelling amateur theatres of her native country, with deliberately offbeat instrumentation in six episodes. She presents it as 'imaginary folk music that is stylised, fractured and only appears to be primitive.' Chin titled her 2013 piece for large ensemble Graffiti. All sound registers are exploited in a colourful, lively, and varied manner. 'The musical language of Graffiti oscillates between roughness and refinement, complexity and transparency,' says the composer. Her double concerto for piano and percussion completes this programme.