Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755) was a prolific French composer of the Baroque era, known for his accessible and elegant music. He played a significant role in the development of chamber music in France and published music without the traditional patronage system, making him one of the first composers to live comfortably off music sales alone. His output includes operas, cantatas, concertos, and a wide range of instrumental works that were often geared toward amateur musicians and the expanding market of domestic music-making. Recorded here is the entire Op.34 of Boismortier's catalogue, consisting of a collection of six sonatas for 4 parts (three sopranos and basso continuo) published in Paris in 1731. The three soprano parts are completely equal to each other, while the performance practice of the time allows the interchangeability of instruments, so that they may be played by either the violin, the flute or the recorder. The sonatas are characterized by graceful melodies, rich harmonic textures, and conversational interplay between the two instruments. Each sonata typically follows a multi-movement structure, alternating between lively dance movements and expressive slow sections. Performed with grace and spirit by the Italian Ensemble Labirinto Armonico, featuring 3 violins, flute, viola da gamba, archlute and spinet. They play on period instruments.

The music featured on this CD has a unique origin. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), a mystic, theologian, and German composer, claims to have heard these melodies during supernatural experiences. While other visionaries may lose touch with reality and fall into ecstasy, Hildegard experiences her visions while remaining completely alert. She later conveys what she has seen and heard through imagery, writings, and music. The title of this CD, Vox Aeternitatis, refers to the divine voice that instructs the mystic to write down her revelations. These compositions are drawn from the Symphonia harmoniae caelestium revelationum, Hildegard's most important musical work. The title reflects the celestial origin of these pieces, which include seventy-seven items such as Psalms, Hymns, Sequences, and Antiphons. For this performance the artists chose to include musical instruments linked to the environment of medieval monasticism, such as the psaltery, symphonia, cymbals, vielle, percussion, flute, and monochord. Only two voices are featured: one female, ideally representing Hildegard herself, and one male, the monk Volmar, her secretary, responsible for transcribing the content of the visions. Hildegard's melodies sometimes surpass the compositional conventions of the time, particularly in terms of vocal range and the expansion of melismas elements that are occasionally pushed to the limits of performability. Her style is remarkably personal and unmistakable, evident in the modal settings that align perfectly with the texts, and in the highly distinctive and recurring melodic formulas that are intimately connected to the spiritual and expressive nature of the lyrics. Performed with great respect and commitment by Schola Romana Ensemble, founded in 2000 by flautist and conductor Stefano Sabene, a group that specializes in both early and contemporary music. The ensemble presents multidisciplinary musical productions that often engage in dialogue with various art forms, such as theater, dance, architecture, visual arts, literature, and film. Their commitment to musicological research and experimentation drives the ensemble to explore an extensive repertoire, ranging from the music of ancient Rome to medieval Europe. In this context, they have especially focused on the performance practice of "a cappella" polyphony, rediscovering the so-called "just intonation."

The Miro Quartet invites you to gather around the warmth of the holiday Hearth-a deeply personal and joy-filled album that celebrates the spirit of the season through the voices of today's most compelling composers. Whether your traditions include Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or simply quiet reflection by the fire, this album captures the essence of holidays as a time of connection, memory, and hope. Featuring works by composers such as Anna Clyne, Clarice Assad, Gabriel Kahane, Reena Esmail, and Paola Prestini, each piece is a musical keepsake-an imaginative reworking of a holiday tune chosen by the composer and infused with personal meaning. From Renaissance hymns to familiar carols like Jingle Bells, and from West African rhythms to tender string lyricism, this vibrant collection reflects the rich diversity of how we celebrate, remember, and come together. Hearth follows the Miro Quartet's acclaimed PENTATONE release Ginastera String Quartets (2025), honoured as a Gramophone Editor's Choice, one of The New York Times' '5 Classical Music Albums You Can Listen to Right Now,' and recipient of Pizzicato's Supersonic distinction. Also available are the GRAMMY-nominated Home (2024) and Beethoven Complete String Quartets (2021). With this release, we are proud to share these musical stories - each one a gift, wrapped in sound, from our hearts to yours.

This recording is dedicated to two recent concertos by Kalevi Aho, one of Finland's foremost contemporary composers. The author of a body of work as important as it is varied, Aho enjoys collaborating with exceptional soloists, for whom he composes works that highlight their musical qualities, inventiveness and personality. The Concerto for Alto Flute and Strings features an instrument with a soft tone, well suited as a soloist with a small orchestra of strings alone. The work is in six movements played without interruption, and the soloist, Sharon Bezaly, sometimes switches to the bass flute, which brings a mystical feel to the music. The St Michel Strings and their conductor, Erkki Lasonpalo, contribute to the mysterious atmosphere in which lyrical and dramatic episodes abound. The Double Concerto for Viola, Percussion and Orchestra, entitled 'Moonlight Concerto', was composed at the initiative of a Berlin-based musician couple, violist Hiyoli Togawa and percussionist Alexej Gerassimez. Here we are immersed in a Japanese atmosphere that reveals echoes of the 1,000-year-old tradition of ritualistic gagaku music. In this work, the percussionist plays instruments that are not usually heard in orchestral concerts, such as the moon gong, the waterphone, a hang drum and nine Thai gongs. The Lahti Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Anja Bihlmaier, provides the rich orchestral commentary.

In the discussion on women and classical music, perhaps no other instrument draws such a strong association with feminine stereotypes as the harp. Once the instrument of choice for respectable young ladies, it was considered suitable for the domestic sphere and the world of private salons. And yet, as the harp made it's way out of the home and into the concert hall, it's publicity was championed by male performers, playing the music of male composers. Often overlooked are the women-performers and composers alike-who revolutionized the instrument and gave it a solo voice. Birds of Paradise celebrates the artistic voices of women as both performers and creators. This album showcases living composers Reena Esmail and Angelica Negron and legendary harpist and composer Henriette Renie. Featured works include Renie's Trio, the first major work written for this combination of instruments, alongside the world premiere recording of Negron's Ave del paraiso and the first recording of Esmail's Saans as arranged for harp, violin, and cello. Listeners are invited to experience this dynamic sound world, full of color and warmth, created and performed by women.

For her fourth recital on Alpha Classics, mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey has chosen to record two cycles, Schumann's well-known Frauenliebe und Leben and Faure's La Chanson d'eve, a much more unfamiliar work. What the two cycles have in common is that a woman is their protagonist: "both works deal with innocence, discovery, joy, sorrow and ultimately a deeper understanding of life that only experience can offer", says Kate Lindsey, who has named this new album Samsara, a Sanskrit word that evokes the cycle of life, from birth to death. Eric Le Sage, a great specialist in the music of Faure and Schumann, is the ideal partner for this introspective journey, which also features extracts from Schumann's sublime Myrthen as well as Faure's famed Clair de lune and Chanson d'amour.

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's 36-year collaboration with the legendary guitarist Andres Segovia resulted in 35 works featuring the guitar, including three concertos, several large cycles and numerous shorter pieces. Castelnuovo-Tedesco first met Segovia at a festival in Venice in 1932 and composed a new work for the legendary guitarist almost every year afterwards. Among the towering masterpieces in guitar literature is Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Platero y Yo (Platero and I), a cycle of consisting of 28 settings, arranged into four groups of seven-movement suites with a total playing time of 1 hour and 49 minutes. Originally conceived as an accompaniment for a recitation of selections from the Nobel Prize-winning Catalan poet Juan Ramon Jimenez's collection of poetic sketches of the same name, the composer gave his permission for the work to be performed without spoken text, which is how it is performed here. You can read Jimenez's texts in English translation while listening to the music and enjoying the wonderful illustrations for each movement by the award-winning artist Halfdan Pisket, especially commissioned for this recording. In preparation for bringing this masterwork to life, internationally acclaimed, multi prize-winning Danish guitarist Niklas Johansen not only studies the Spanish language to appreciate Jimenez'sprose-poems in their native language, but travelled to Spain, not far from Jimenez's hometown of Moguer. The close relationship with the language and culture has lent Johansen's interpretations a personal resonance. This album was recorded in Fredensborg Palace Chapel by the Danish masters of sound, Preben Iwan and Mette Due who beautifully captured the exceptional acoustics. We wish to express our sincere thanks to His Majesty King Frederik X, who personally granted us permission to record in Fredensborg Palace Chapel.

The unearthing of Telemann's Fantaisies pour la Basse de Viole in 2015 has been the most important discovery for the repertoire of viola da gamba in recent times. The compositions are a compendium of how Italian and French influences permeated the purely German language to create a specific style. Using the genre Fantasia, Telemann shows us a portrait full of audacity, freshness and compositional freedom hitherto unknown. Sara Ruiz plays on an anonymous viola da gamba dated around 1700. She�chooses�to emphasize the rotundness and the beauty of the tone, while her technical skills allow her to create a real drama. She does not hesitate to make use of a nice legato where a pleasant melody is encountered: she makes her instrument sing almost like a cello, i.e. a voice. With her, each Fantasia tells a story, every time a particular and thrilling one.

Chopin's 21 Nocturnes, often described as 'songs of the night', are among the most well-known and beautiful of Chopin's short solo piano works. Divine Art is thrilled to present pianist Tom Hicks' insightful new recording of these works which synthesizes his research into Chopin's performance and composition practices with modern listeners' expectations via a 'stunning technical agility' (American Record Guide). Dr Kim Sauberlich's excellent liner notes delve deeper into this often-forgotten performance, teaching, and historical recording practice and, together with the 21 pieces on this album, pose fascinating questions about authenticity and interpretation. Chopin's practice of sending manuscripts to publishers in multiple countries, while continuing to edit, led to multiple, authentic first editions which are not often heard in performance today, and even less in recordings.� In this recording, Tom has tastefully incorporated some of these variants, alongside historically informed choices about tempo rubato and pedaling, to create a version of the Nocturnes that feels fresh, individual, and truly authentic. He has even included minor and occasional improvisations, paying homage to the composer's multifaceted creative process, in which improvisation was central. Tom Hicks has said "All of this led me to see Chopin as a highly creative and spontaneous musician for whom the score is one representation of the work and for whom the score is only the starting point of an interpretation, not the end." The album was recorded at night and the engineers have captured an intimacy of sound. The recording process relied upon minimal editing and longer 'live' takes to recreate the intimate feel of the salon where these pieces were most often heard. Guernsey-born pianist Tom Hicks has an expansive repertoire and has been praised for his "brilliantly evocative"(International Piano) and "gorgeously creative playing" (Fanfare). He has won many awards and competitions and has appeared at the Wigmore Hall in London, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and many other venues throughout Europe and the United States. This new album follows his March 2022 albums centered around the Liszt and Ireland Piano Sonatas and Camden Reeves' 'Blue Sounds'.

'I was drawn to an approach of dealing with the history of slavery within one's family, the ownership of a name and it's 'rebranding' - reflecting on the American Slave and how Black Americans deal with creating a sense of pride, familial storytelling and lineage in contemporary America. This notion of 'rebranding' extends to the 'Negro Melody' My intent with these arrangements is to acknowledge the impact of those melodies on current popular culture, and reflect that influence onto the orchestral stage - to create moments where listeners may participate vocally, with movement, or rhythmically clapping along - to maintain a sense of belonging and recognition - to create community around this music in the classical concert hall - to embrace where all contemporary American Concert music extends from, in my belief - America's mother-music: the Blues.' - Curtis Stewart

On December 1, 2024, Ivan Repusic, chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, conducted a concert performance of Frano Parac's opera Judita at Munich's Prinzregententheater. This two-act, seven-scene opera is about the siege of a city by brutal foreign invaders. The biblical story of Judith, who liberates her homeland of Bethulia from it's Assyrian occupiers by killing Holofernes, certainly has parallels with Croatian history, particularly that of the city of Split. From the mid-15th century onwards, the country repeatedly fought against incursions by the Ottoman Empire - and Split in Dalmatia was particularly vulnerable to the attacks of the Turks, who advanced to it's gates. The poet Marko Marulic (1450-1524) alludes to these events in allegorical form in his epic Judita, completed in 1501. One of the earliest poetic works in the Croatian language, it established Marulic's reputation as the father of Croatian literature. To celebrate the 550th anniversary of the author's birth in 2000, and in commemoration of the 1, 700th anniversary of the foundation of Split, Frano Parac, a composer born in Split in 1948, chose the epic Judita as the basis for his first opera. It premiered on July 14, 2000 at the Croatian National Theatre in Split. The live recording made in December 2023 is now being released on CD by BR-KLASSIK, supplemented by Dance of the Baroness (Ples Barunice) from Parac's 1985 dramatic ballet Carmina Krle�iana, based on texts by the expressionist-modernist writer Miroslav Krle�a. First published in 1990 in a piano version, the dance is a rewarding and effective piece for pianists - and it's orchestral version is equally impressive.

Indeed, Vienna is so rich in composers [...], that it is but just to allow it to be, among German cities, the imperial seat of music, as well as of power. Sir Charles Burney, the famous observer of European music, was quite correct. This city on the Danube was bubbling over with talents and masters who all made their livelihood there. This included Johann Baptist Wanhal, one of the innumerable Bohemians that tried their luck in the shadow of the court palace. He contributed many beautiful pieces to his preferred medium of instrumental music. The small selection of the present production alone well demonstrates that Wanhal was able to hold his own in the symphonic genre next to Joseph Haydn, who was seven years his senior. Subtle orchestral colours, a fine sense for dramatic events, especially in the minor keys, and striking melodies are characteristic of the creations that were enjoyed not only in the old imperial city.

Les Arts Florissants, one of the world's most renowned Baroque ensembles, joins forces with legendary founder and artistic director William Christie for a landmark release: the first complete recording of Andre Campra's Requiem, paired with his profoundly moving Miserere. These works, filled with clarity, grace, and emotional power, offer a deeply personal and spiritual listening experience. Campra's music speaks straight to the soul, with harmonies that are subtle, expressive, and timeless. Performed on period instruments at original French pitch and shaped by authentic ensemble forces, this recording is a masterclass in historically informed performance, true to Campra's era, and brought vividly to life by musicians at the top of their craft. With it's unmistakably rich and nuanced sound, Les Arts Florissants infuses every phrase with the elegance of French musical heritage, even in Latin texts shaped by the unique French pronunciation of the time. This is more than a recording, it's a rediscovery of one of sacred music's most refined voices. Though Campra's genius has long been underappreciated, this release brings his spiritual artistry to the forefront for a new generation. A powerful listening experience and a milestone debut for Les Arts Florissants and William Christie on PENTATONE, this album is an essential addition to any collection of great sacred choral works.

26 Little Deaths - the new album from composer, singer and violinist Carla Kihlstedt and the contemporary ensemble Present Music - celebrates the macabre wit of iconic writer and illustrator Edward Gorey (1925-2000), whose 100th birthday fell on February 22, 2025. The album is an hour-long set of 26 miniatures for singing violinist and chamber orchestra, inspired by Gorey's macabre children's book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Following in the footsteps of Hanns Eisler and Kurt Weill, who moved seamlessly between art song, pop song and cabaret, Kihlstedt has created a work that captures the pathos, humor and wit of Gorey's indelible images.

The celebrated Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg is a two-time winner of the 'Best Operatic Recital' Award at the International Opera Awards, while Ian Page's previous Gluck recording with The Mozartists ('Blessed Spirit - a Gluck retrospective') was selected by Gramophone magazine among the top 10 Gluck recordings of all time. Following previous partnerships in the opera house and the concert hall, Hallenberg and Page are now collaborating in the recording studio for the first time on a new recital disc of Gluck arias. The backbone of the programme is provided by three arias from Il trionfo di Clelia (Bologna, 1763) that were written for the renowned castrato Giovanni Manzuoli (1720-1782) - one of the greatest singers of his day - and the album also includes previously unrecorded arias from Ipermestra (Venice, 1744 and Le nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe (Dresden, 1747). Also featured is Gluck's revised version of the exquisite "Che puro ciel" from Orfeo ed Euridice (written for Parma in 1769), and the popular "O del mio dolce ardor" from the last of the composer's three so-called 'reform' operas, Paride ed Elena. "In an age where so much music of the past is being explored and made available, Gluck nevertheless remains one of the most neglected and undervalued of the great composers, a name that continues to crop up more often in textbooks than in opera houses or concert halls. We very much hope that you will find this music to be of far more than merely historical interest, and that you enjoy listening to this recording." - Ian Page

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The emerging quartet Gaman Ensemble shows in this album the evolution and cross-influences of that strong Spanish presence in the French capital over the last century. It's four members (Jesus Reneses -soprano saxophone-, Carlos Zaragoza -alto saxophone-, Daniel Sanchez-Manjavacas -tenor saxophone- and Luis Maria Gonzalez -baritone saxophone-) have studied in Paris, allowing themselves to be nourished musically and intellectually by the cultural life of the city. So did the five composers who make up the disc: Joaquin Nin, Jesus Guridi, Enrique Granados, Eduard Toldr� and Felix Ibarrondo. Gaman Ensemble records for the first time their own versions for saxophone quartet of the pieces by Nin and Guridi, originals for piano or string quartet, as well as the arrangement of the dance by Granados and the work commissioned by themselves to Ibarrondo. From these five scores, the versatile and rigorous Gaman Ensemble aims to illustrate the fruitful and long-lived sound encounter between Spain and France without losing sight of the musical regionalisms that were forged in the final stages of Romanticism. Basque, Andalusian and Catalan popular references emerge more or less explicitly in the languages of the five composers. On the other hand, as well as showing it's commitment to contemporary creation through Ibarrondo's work, Gaman Ensemble wants to contribute to the revaluation of the production and legacy of composers not yet sufficiently recognised, such as Nin or Guridi. And all this, through the original and suggestive formation of the saxophone quartet, a mirror of contemporaneity.

A new recording of Paganini's eccentric 'diary of invention' for guitar by a young Italian musician with a fast-growing reputation in both rock and classical genres. Giacomo Carletti took up the guitar at the age of 13, initially playing electric. Impressed by his talent, the composer Edoardo Catemario encouraged Carletti to take up the classical guitar. He now makes his career as a busy recitalist with the classical instrument while keeping up his pop and rock connections by playing electric guitar in several bands. As Carletti remarks in his booklet essay for his debut album on Brilliant Classics, the 43 Ghiribizzi by Paganini stand as a testament to his musical ingenuity and sense of fun. They present a showcase for his technical prowess but also reveal a lighter side to the virtuoso often caricatured as a dark and forbidding figure. The term Ghiribizzo is defined in Italian as an 'Idea bizzarra, capriccio improvviso'. Many less than a minute long, the 43 sketches sometimes start and stop abruptly; some are hardly more than tunes, others are eccentric fantasies. Many of them are based on existing material - not only the Mozart aria 'La ci darem la mano' from Don Giovanni, which Paganini acknowledges in the score, but other tunes he picked up on the way, popular and folkloristic, often anonymous in origin. No.37 of the collection has an esspecially rich back-story: a fond musical memory of Paganini's meeting with Rossini in Naples, in 1820. The piece, divided into two parts, bears Rossini's name at the bottom of the first 16 bars, and Paganini's at the bottom of the next 16, perhaps as a recollection of a game where they improvised together. 'in recording the Ghiribizzi,' says Carletti, 'I wanted to bring out the eccentric and eclectic character of the composer. I try to imagine Paganini as a rock virtuoso of nowadays and treat his music accordingly.' - Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) is perhaps best known for his 24 Caprices for Solo Violin which granted him the fame as the diabolical virtuoso of his age. However, his contributions to the guitar world are equally fascinating, particularly his 43 Ghiribizzi. - In the dictionary of the Italian language the word Ghiribizzo is described as follows: "Idea bizzarra, capriccio improvviso" (bizarre idea, capricious improvisation). The artist Giacomo Carletti about the recording: "Bearing this precise and unequivocal definition in mind, in recording the 43 Ghiribizzi for guitar I wanted to bring out the eccentric and eclectic character of the composer. I try to imagine Paganini as a present day rock virtuoso and treat his music accordingly. Every rhythmical variation, every single notation has been studied, evaluated and decided in the awareness of wanting to make this integral as realistic as possible to what could have been a performance by Paganini himself. On this album you can hear hilarious tunes alternating, even in the same piece, with thoughtful, profound parts. Although there is no evidence of concerts held by the Italian maestro with the guitar, it is well known that Paganini studied and knew how to play the guitar with great mastery." - Giacomo Carletti plays in a wide variety of genres and styles, alternating performances in rock and pop bands with classical guitar solo and chamber concerts.

After A Soprano's Schubertiade (BIS-2343) and Elysium (BIS-2573), Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton present a new recital devoted to Schubert's songs on the theme of the changing seasons. While there have also been other successful celebrations of the four seasons in music, Franz Schubert, a lover of nature, here evokes them in his lieder. Winter, imbued with nostalgia, is represented here by three songs in which the Schubertian hero sings of lost love. But gloomy thoughts soon give way to spring, synonymous with optimism and hope as nature returns to life: 'Welcome, with your happy swarm of newly awakened creatures around me.' If life is in full swing during the summer, the hero now seems uncertain about the happy outcome of his quest for love. In autumn, evoked here by six songs, the hero can only acknowledge his failure, reflected by nature preparing for a months-long sleep: 'Ah, as the stars disappear in the sky, so does life's hope fade away.' Clarinettist Michael Collins joins the duo for one song, 'Der Hirt auf dem Felsen', Schubert's penultimate composition. Inspired by yodelling, this extended lied ends with the hope of a better life, with spring just around the corner and the prophetic words of 'now I shall prepare/to go a-wandering' heralding the composer's approaching death.

Since it's foundation in 2017 and it's inaugural performance on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Carmen Wurth Forum, the Wurth Philharmonic Orchestra has been impressing audiences with a broad repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary compositions in it's role as the orchestra in residence. The orchestra is a further milestone in the Wurth Group's cultural commitment, in addition to it's artistic activities. Claudio Vandelli has been principal conductor of the Wurth Philharmonic Orchestra since 2020. With it's powerful sound and nuanced interpretations, the Wurth Philharmonic Orchestra brings music of exceptional quality to it's home region of Hohenlohe, making it unique in the region as a professional symphony orchestra.

SOMM Recordings is thrilled to collaborate once again with the Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman piano duo following their highly praised six-volume recording of the nine symphonies by Beethoven arranged for piano duet by Xaver Scharwenka-about which International Piano says, "These readings afford unmitigated pleasure... The articulation and voicing of the players persuades us into thinking we're in the middle of an unleashed virtuoso orchestra." Now, these award-winning South African-born artists present music for two pianos and piano duet from their adopted country, highlighting works by Gustav Holst and Edward Elgar. In the early 1910s, Holst became interested in astrology, and he conceived the idea of a suite for orchestra based on the solar system's individual planets. Originally, he composed�The Planets on the piano, using the instrument in his newly-built, sound-proofed room in the music wing at St Paul's Girls School as well as the piano at his home in Thaxted. This version for four hands, two pianos was scored by two of his colleagues at St Paul's, Vally Lasker and Nora Day, who acted as amanuenses, because Holst suffered intermittently from painful neuritis in his right hand. Following the resounding success of the orchestrated version of The Planets, the original piano duet score was overlooked, though it was eventually published separately in 1949-51. In 1979, Holst's daughter, Imogen, reissued the complete two-piano arrangement in one volume, and Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman perform this version here. Elgar's renown was such that, at the height of his fame, several established musicians were commissioned by publishers to make piano transcriptions of his orchestral music. This was no mean feat, given that Elgar's scores are scrupulously marked as to how he wanted every phrase-sometimes even every bar or note within that phrase-to be played. It was the composer, arranger, and conductor, Otto Singer II, who made the transcription for piano four-hands of Elgar's 1905 Introduction and Allegro, scored originally for solo string quartet and string orchestra. Singer's insight and skill are evident in techniques like transferring string double-stopping to spread keyboard chords, and his piano four-hands version is admirably true to Elgar's evolving contrapuntal and harmonic ideas. In Victorian England, the marriage of a tradesman's son to the daughter of a Major-General in the British Army, who was eight years his senior, might not have appeared a perfect match. Yet, the marriage of Edward Elgar and Caroline Alice Roberts turned out to be a love-match. In 1888, as a wedding present, Edward presented to Carice, as he called her, Salut d'Amour. This enduring melody has inspired numerous arrangements for widely varying instrumental combinations, including this one for piano duet.

Please, enjoy one of the most appealing and thought-provoking Baroque discs of the year. It contains a selection of the sonatas drawn from Pisendel's library, the best of Italian and German violin schools. This is the debut album of an outstanding baroque violinist coming from the renowned Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. The recording is the fruit of an in-depth scholar work, of a virtuoso violinist accompanied by a raising star of the harpsichord - to which the expertise of a top sound engineer and producer is added.

First volume of a complete survey of Brahms' music with viola. It includes the Sonatas op.120 anf the Trio op.40. There is a special connection between Brahms's musical world and the sonority of the viola.�Acclaimed and experienced violist Mikhail Zemtsov can count on the collaboration of two distinguished soloists as Hanna Shybayeva and Daniel Rowland. A version of Brahms' chamber music masterpieces infused with Russian ardour and drive.

Acclaimed concert violinist Rachel Barton Pine, sought-after pianist Orion Weiss, and the multiple Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet join forces for their new album French Impressions: Chamber Music by Chausson & Tailleferre, celebrating transformational works by French composers Ernest Chausson and Germaine Tailleferre, whose chamber music deserves greater attention on recordings. Chausson's Op. 21 sextet, titled Concert, known for it's unusual orchestration of solo violin, string quartet, and piano, takes advantage of the quasi-orchestral capabilities of a chamber ensemble. The only work on the album featuring Rachel Barton Pine, Pacifica Quartet, and Orion Weiss as a collective, Concert is regarded as one of the most important French chamber music works of the late-19th-century fin-de-siecle era. Germaine Tailleferre was a prolific composer and the only female member of the group of celebrated 20th-century French composers known as Les Six. Tailleferre was a piano prodigy who enrolled at the Paris Conservatoire at age 12, defying her father's objections. Her compositions span symphonic, chamber, and film music. A winner of numerous premiere prix, she studied with revered composers including Maurice Ravel, whose work significantly influenced her versatile style. Violinist Rachel Barton Pine showcases her "astonishing and joyful" (Washington Post) artistry, alongside the "powerful technique and exceptional insight" (Washington Post) of pianist Orion Weiss for Tailleferre's Violin Sonata No. 2, Pastorale, and Berceuse for Violin and Piano - works that often express a nostalgic longing for home and display dynamic and adventurous interplay between the violin and piano. The Pacifica Quartet, known for it's "remarkable expressive range and tonal beauty" (New York Times), is featured on Tailleferre's String Quartet, a piece acclaimed for it's playful themes, fluid accompanimental figuration, and bold harmonies.

This new album by Gavle Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jaime Martin includes two perhaps finest orchestral works by Max Reger (1873-1916) written towards the end of his life, the Four Tone Poems after Bocklin and the Romantic Suite, both sensous and poetic works suggesting a loose connection with Debussy. Reger's 150th anniversary of birth was celebrated in 2023. Yet, much of Reger's music appears on concert programmes only very occasionally. During his own lifetime Reger was highly admired: Paul Hindemith described Reger as "the last giant of music," and when Schoenberg founded his Society for Private Musical Performances in 1918, Max Reger, along with Debussy and Bartok, was one of the most frequently performed composers. Admiring Reger as an important innovator, Schoenberg promoted his music because "he still remains unfamiliar" and "I consider him a genius". Reger's Four Tone Poems after Bocklin and the Romantic Suite are sufficient to prove that Schoenberg was totally right.