- An original and highly enjoyable program of works for bassoon and piano by romantic composers: the bassoon sonata Op. 9 by Gustav Schreck (1849-1918), the bassoon sonata by Anton Reicha (1770-1836), the Grande Sonate by Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870) and the brilliant Introduction & Polonaise by Jules Demersseman (1833-1866). - Strongly melodious music of great beauty, a valuable homage to that neglected but highly expressive and versatile wind instrument, the bassoon! - Played by Paolo Carlini, bassoon and Fabrizio Datteri, piano. Paolo Carlini is one of the foremost bassoon players of his generation, he recorded extensively as a soloist for labels Sony Classical, CPO, CHANDOS, Brilliant Classics, Stradivarius, Naxos, Tactus, EMA Records.

Hans Winterberg, born in Prague in 1901, studied with Alexander von Zemlinsky and Alois Haba. He worked as a conductor, pianist and composer until the annexation of the Czechoslovak Republic by Nazi Germany in 1939. As the scion of a Jewish family that had lived in Prague for centuries, he survived - after forced labor and deportation to Theresienstadt - through a series of miracles. After the Communists came to power in Czechoslovakia, he moved to Germany. His compositional legacy, locked away for years in a German music archive, has only been rediscovered in recent years. Winterberg combines various influences in his music to create an original and exciting personal style. He takes up stylistic elements of Janacek but is also influenced by the Second Viennese School and French Impressionism. He saw himself as a bridge-builder between the cultures of Eastern and Western Europe. Eda records dedicates a focus to this important Czech-Jewish composers of the generation of the so called "Terezin composers" alongside Ullmann, Krasa and Haas. Further chamber music recordings and the complete works for piano with pianist Jonathan Powell will follow.

To mark the 400th anniversary of Orlando Gibbons's death, organist and harpsichordist Stephen Farr presents a stunning tribute to one of England's greatest composers of the early seventeenth century. Gibbons, who served at the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey, was celebrated for his virtuosity and innovation, bridging the Renaissance and Baroque eras. This album explores the full breadth of his keyboard oeuvre, from intricate fantasias and evocative pavans to lively dances and variation sets. The album includes the Fantasia for Double Organ, showcasing Gibbons's mastery of contrapuntal invention, and the poignant Pavan and Galliard Lord Salisbury, composed in honour of the composer's noble patron. Farr's insightful interpretations reveal the expressive depth and technical brilliance of Gibbons's music. A compelling homage, this recording underscores Gibbons's lasting influence on English keyboard music.

Masks under the Mask is an album of some of the greatest piano works by Robert Schumann. The pianist, Ham Can, comments: In this album, I have included six sets of character pieces, ranging from his early "Papillons, Op. 2," inspired by the idea of a masked ball, to one of his later, more chromatic works, "Drei Fantasiestucke.

John Williams Reimagined is a project of film score producer Robert Townson, who imagined an album where John Williams famous film themes are scored for a chamber trio of flute: Sara Andon, cello: Cécilia Tsan and piano: Simone Pedroni. A double album with hits, spanning a period of more than 50 years of terrific film music from Jane Eyre to the recent The Fabelmans and including, ET, Star Wars, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park.

An enigmatic figure, Jean Adam Guilain has left posterity a collection of suites imbued with grave majesty and subtle melancholy. Rarely played nowadays, the four suites that have escaped the hazards of time resonate for the first time on the Great Organs of the Chapelle Royale de Versailles. Guilain's solemn music is interwoven here with the gentle melodies of Jacques Morel, forming a sumptuous tableau in which organ, viol and harpsichord complement each other harmoniously. Thomas Ospital and the Ensemble Saint-Honore combine their talents to perform these little-known works with great finesse.

After a prolonged period during which they were ignored wholesale, the compositions of both Philipp and Xaver Scharwenka are performed again - occasionally, anyway-and some of them have been seen the light of day on record. However, no discographic attempt has yet been made to explore their music in relation to each other, which might seem surprising, given their very similar artistic influences and the close connection between the two composing brothers. In this collection, Yoerae Kim and Matteo Weber demonstrate their sensitivity to a dramaturgically cohesive program, which highlights those intriguing biographical connections. They pair a violin sonata by each brother with a serenade and a suite, spanning a creative period of some 35 years.

In this dazzling comedy by Rameau, the ugly, frog-like, nymph Platee believes she is Jupiter's chosen one. The latter, in a succession of disguises, mocks her in a game of seduction that is as cruel as it is entertaining, while the gods, complicit in the farce, feast on her illusions. Rameau's music is both rich and virtuosic, transporting us into a whirlwind of laughter and beauty, while offering a fine reflection on pride and vanity. With it's bewitching arias and numerous burlesque scenes, Platee is a theatrical delight, a veritable jewel of the Baroque repertoire to which Valentin Tournet and his Chapelle Harmonique return all it's spice!

An exciting journey through the time: Mozart played on a fortepiano, according to 19th Century performing style, with today sensitivity. Keiko Shichijo introduces us to Baron van Swieten's salon, where Mozart used to play the piano in the early 80s. In this salon Mozart got to know in depth the music of Bach and Haendel. Keiko constructs a clever programme of great masterpieces somehow related to these years and to the new influence Bach excerted on Mozart.

The music of the Romanian composer Anatol Vieru (1926-98) is an arresting fusion of classical procedures, avant-garde modernism and folk roots; an accent from his Jewish heritage - he narrowly escaped a pogrom in the ghetto of his native Iasi in 1944 - also underlies his musical impulses. These divergent influences fed into a musical language that is simultaneously familiar and intriguingly unconventional, with hypnotic, quasi-minimalist passages rubbing shoulders with bursts of wild, gypsy-like energy. It can likewise encompass both an epic sense of scale and chuckling good humour.

Vincent Segal and Stephane Kerecki, key figures on the Paris music scene for two decades, now present Ponticello, a project born of their impromptu meeting in the summer of 2022 and their desire to combine their instruments. Their duo, which they formed on the spur of the moment, quickly grew into an ambitious venture designed for the stage. Here the two musicians share their passion for the great classics (Bach, Messiaen, Faure), jazz standards (Hampton Hawes, Scott LaFaro) and their own compositions, blending classical, jazz, South American and American folk influences. The potential of this intimate but powerful group became clear from their very first sessions, with a richness of sound worthy of an orchestra. Since they regularly collaborate with Airelle Besson they invited her to enhance their duo. Her magnificent sound fits in perfectly and adds a new depth to the ensemble.

Founded in 1951 by Erwin Lehn, The SWR Big Band has been nominated for a Grammy several times and received the German Jazz Award (Gold) in 2015. Over the course of the years, it collaborated with artists like Quincy Jones, Pat Metheny, George Benson, Gary Burton, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Curtis Stigers, Jacob Collier, Patti Austin, Roy Hargrove, Sammy Nestico, Ivan Lins, Paula Morelenbaum, Joo Kraus, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Bob Florence, Rob McConnell, Slide Hampton, Maria Schneider, Frank Foster, Bill Holman and Bob Mintzer. The album SWR Big Band live at the Elbphilharmonie from 2018 is one of the longest running bestsellers of the label. The collaboration between Sammy Nestico and The SWR Big Band began 2004, when the composer was already 80 years old. Soon it developed into a real friendship. No less than five albums have been released in the years until his death, all of them bestsellers of the SWRmusic catalogue. They additionaly made a key contribution to raising international awareness of Nestico's late creative phase. The music he wrote for The SWR Big Band sports both funky sounds and elements of fusion, combining swing, a pinch of soul and an emotional orchestral expression. The music moves artfully between reduced combo sounds and opulent textures. This sense of mutual understanding was created during the decade-plus period of collaboration between the composer and the orchestra, a collaboration built not only on notes, but also on intuition.

There was magnificent cultural vitality recorded in Bologna in the early seventeenth century, and it is always fascinating to grasp the links between academic undertakings and daily life, between the regular occurrences of festive occasions and the civic institutions. From this rich workshop of ideas, two centuries of splendour and eminent talents were to unfold, active in all fields of knowledge and the arts. The performance of the tragicomedy Filarmindo by Ridolfo Campeggi, which took place in 1605 to celebrate the wedding of Marquis Ferdinando Riario and Countess Laura Pepoli, was 'stuffed' - following a well-established theatrical practice - with the four intermezzi of Aurora Ingannata. The task of composing the music for these intermezzi was given to Girolamo Giacobbi, at the time the chapel master of the Basilica of San Petronio and highly respected professional. This memorable performance, preserved in the chronicles of the time, is masterfully revived by the ensemble Dramatodia (already featured in Il Festino del Gioved� Grasso by Adriano Banchieri, tc 550008), paying homage to the gem from which the ensemble takes it's name.

Handel's "Water Music" was performed for the first time in 1717 at a royal celebration with a grand parade of boats on the Thames and the patron, King George I, was so enthusiastic that the young Handel had to repeat it several times. It is rousing, catchy, graceful and jubilant at the same time - a triumphant success to this day. The popular "Music for the Royal Fireworks" was composed for the fireworks display in London's Green Park on April 27, 1749, with which King George II celebrated the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and the Peace of Aachen. The suite was conceived for a gigantic wind ensemble - originally for an outdoor performance. Immediately after the first performance, Handel produced a version for string orchestra with wind instruments. It was in this version that it began it's triumphal march through the concert halls of the world. W. A. Mozart described the music to the royal fireworks as a "spectacle of English pride and joy". The Collegium 1704 under it's conductor Vaclav Luks has made a name for itself for it's detailed and subtle interpretations and it's great joy in playing. These attributes also come to the fore in the Collegium's new CD and allow Handel's "Water & Fire" to shine in royal splendor.

This album presents a selection of early piano works by six of China's most internationally lauded composers. The pieces explore elements of Chinese and Western traditions though most are rooted in a traditional national style derived from Chinese opera or folk music. They evoke characteristic Chinese instrumental sonorities, especially percussion - gongs, drums, chimes and bells - from a variety of source material including Beijing Opera and ballads. Pianist Kiu Tung Poon has performed internationally and is admired for her 'lively and authoritative' playing (American Record Guide) and for her 'lyrical and emotionally nuanced' interpretations (Woodstock Times).