High Hopes, the debut album by Arvid Fagerfjall and Hikaru Kanki, is dedicated to the search for a balance between reality and our inner self - and the attempt to maintain hope in life. For their program, the two drew from two centuries of song repertoire, with each of the selected works also being lively and complex in it's own unique way.

Franco-Swiss violist Mathis Rochat presents British repertoire for viola and orchestra, pairing William Walton's well-known concerto with rarely recorded works by Herbert Howells and Arthur Benjamin. Featuring violinist Abigel Kralik, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under the direction of Howard Griffiths, the program highlights romantic styles and lesser-known voices within the first half of 20th-century British music.

Elena Ruehr is one of today's most prolific and acclaimed composer of string quartets whose music has been described as "unspeakably gorgeous" by Gramophone magazine. This latest triptych of works for the genre takes inspiration from much-loved locales in the higher latitudes: the composer's Michigan home, a favourite spot on Cape Cod, and the capital city of Iceland. String Quartet No. 9, "Keweenaw" evokes the small rural town in Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula where Elena grew up. This quartet explores various parts of that world, from native berries, early autumn blizzards, ghost towns and the majestic Lake Superior. String Quartet No. 10, "Long Pond" captures moments throughout the days on a beautiful small lake on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where Elena has spent much time and gathered precious memories: a brightly rising sun, a morning dog walk, sailing on the harbour, a "nor'easter" storm, a lovely yet mysterious full moon rising above and reflecting in the water. String Quartet No. 11, "Reykjavik", pays seasonal homage to Iceland's capitol city, with it's long winter nights, the sun peeking through the haze as spring approaches, greeted with celebrations of singing and dancing for the lighter days ahead. Quartet ES is a foursome of diverse and engaging individuals - Anton Miller and Ertan Torgul, violins; Rita Porfiris, viola; and Jennifer Kloetzel, cello - that come together to create cutting-edge programming, visionary projects and dynamic educational initiatives. A capacious catalogue of commissioned works includes these three by Elena Ruehr.

Haydn's Piano Trios were intended for domestic use but the composer was typically inventive in subverting expected norms, bringing striking changes of mood, the use of unusual keys, and rich ornamentation to the supposedly placid world of the trio. Haydn also had a fondness for dance patterns, as his use of the polonaise in this volume shows; and he exploits the technical prowess of his pianist dedicatee, Maria Theresa nee Hohenfeld, Dowager Princess Esterhazy in Trio No. 20 in B flat major. The Trios are played by the three First Prize winners of the prestigious Enescu Competition (Bucharest, 2014) who bring a fusion of historical insight and Romantic sensibility that offers a fresh perspective on Haydn.

'Little Wanderer', from William Blake's dream world, seemed the perfect title for an album in which we are surrounded by myriad landscapes in songs by Benjamin Britten, Imogen Holst and Daniel Kidane. Since meeting on our first day at the Royal College of Music, we have long enjoyed programming Britten's masterful folk song reimaginings, and we adore the texts and music in his powerful Hardy cycle, Winter Words. It has been a joy to discover songs by Imogen Holst, Britten's close friend and assistant, and we are proud to be able to make the first recording of Dan's Songs of Illumination, commissioned for us by Leeds Lieder in 2018. For over a decade, song in English has played a major part in our musical lives and performing relationship, and we are delighted to present this programme together.

Galina Ustvolskaya was a profoundly original composer, unrivalled in the extremism of her style, who was largely ignored during her lifetime. Fiercely independent, Ustvolskaya created highly expressive, even violent music that sounds like the work of no other composer and reveals no distinct influences, while often being imbued with religiosity or spirituality. Her music has been described as having the 'narrowness of a laser beam capable of piercing metal'. Only after her death was Ustvolskaya's original and uncompromising talent finally recognised. Christian Karlsen and the London Philharmonic Orchestra present here Ustvolskaya's five symphonies. While the first appears superficially traditional (it is the only one for full symphony orchestra), it features two boys singing - through microphones, in a chanting manner - texts that speak of poverty, racism and injustice. Symphonies Nos 2 to 5 break decisively with the traditional mould; each consists of a single, rather short movement, in the manner of theatrical rituals. Written for instrumental combinations as varied as they are unusual, these symphonies became increasingly intransigent as their instrumentation contracted further and further, down to just a handful of instruments in the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies. A solo voice appears sporadically, not necessarily for singing, but rather to verbalise a prayer - a prayer asking for forgiveness but not for a better life.

These two quartets were written in the summer of 2021. There was a pandemic going on, and I spent most of the summer in my apartment, reading books and feeling the momentum of life melting away in the heat. Early that summer, I read Haruki Murakami's first novel, "Hear the Wind Sing," and in the introduction he tells an anecdote from a baseball game: "In the bottom of the first inning, Hilton slammed Sotokoba's first pitch into the left field for a clean double. The satisfying crack when the bat met the ball resounded throughout Jingu Stadium. Scattered applause rose around me and in that instant, for no reason and based on no grounds whatsoever, it suddenly struck me: I think I can write a novel." This story had an effect on me similar to the crack of the bat, as I'd never written concert music but had always wanted to. My only idea of how to start composing was to improvise at the piano. There are parts of the piano quartet that are direct transcriptions of these sessions, such as the cadenza-like development section of the first movement. But even the most structured-sounding passages began as improvisations before being arranged into an almost naively typical sonata structure. The piano quartet, while clearly an "early" piece, introduced me to my own language, and got me addicted to composing. I started writing Love and Levity, my first string quartet, immediately after finishing the piano quartet. The Renaissance Quartet wasn't even really a thing yet, but I knew who I was writing it for. I consider the piece to be, at it's core, Beethovenian: in it's thematic and structural tautness, but even more so in it's motion towards excess-staying on an idea for too long, playing something too fast or too slow, too quiet or too loud. The title came from this anachronistic romanticism, this desire to talk about big feelings, but always with a bit of humor, always a bit weird. Jazz and contemporary songwriting are as important to this music as the classical tradition. The scherzo movement, "Hermit's Waltz," is a jazz piece, complete with a transcription of an actual solo taken by guitarist Jacob Drab. The outer movements feature chords, melodies, and instrumental techniques taken from American folk musics such as rock, bluegrass, and the blues. These musics are not only emblems of New York, the city I call home, but contain the DNA of virtually all contemporary music. I leave it to you to discover what any of that means, and how it all came out. I want to thank my quartet mates, as well as Valerie, Brian, and Han, for making this music so much better than it is on the page.

No wonder the stellar team of pianists Eric Zuber and Boris Slutsky found Rachmaninoff's works for two pianos irresistible. The two had a shared history: Mr. Slutsky was Mr. Zuber's piano teacher beginning when the latter was a mere 11. Here, instructor and student have now become equal partners with a shared aesthetic. "Like many pianists (and listeners), I've always felt deeply connected to Rachmaninoff's music," says Eric Zuber. "Precisely identifying what makes it resonate so profoundly with so many people is challenging, but for me, it's his sincerity of expression, emotional honesty, and exceptional craftsmanship in writing for the piano. Through his distinctive musical language, Rachmaninoff captures the complexities of human emotion-our joys, loves, and sorrows-in ways words alone cannot fully express.

She's the Poem is a series of ten poetic portraits varying from someone you could run into on the streets to an icon like Frida Kahlo. It's an ode to realness: the beautiful and the ugly, raw and unpolished. With this album, Sara Bax shows she is a composer and musician, but mostly feels like an artist through music. She wants to take you to the centre of being, she wants to make you feel the sparkles of magic that flow right there. If you put your head under water, your thoughts go still. Just like when you listen to this band. Bax utilises the power of every band member so, that the group together sounds like a single strong organ that paints the air with a rich color palette.

Debut album by a young talented Russian guitarist. Well constructed programme based on Leo Brouwer and Agustin Barrios. An engaging listening from start to end, thanks to the Kurenchakova's prowess and eloquence and to the warmly resonant recording.�"Lux Amoris Aeterni" ("The Radiance of Eternal Love") is an album about divine love in the language of music, expressed through the gentle timbre of the classical guitar.

With Peace Orchestra, saxophonist Yuri Honing presents a new musical chapter where boundaries blur and sounds connect. This unique ensemble brings together a rich palette of influences, rooted in the spiritual jazz of the 1960s and '70s, yet infused with modern electronics and an open, contemporary sound. Inspired by legends such as Pharoah Sanders (The Creator Has a Masterplan), Charles Lloyd, and Sun Ra, the album is a tribute to musical freedom. The Peace Orchestra defies stylistic labels - it is a breathing, evolving entity where tradition, innovation, and improvisation continuously embrace each other. Together, Yuri Honing - tenor saxophone, Remy van Kesteren - harp & electronics, Ella Zirina - guitar, Tony Overwater - double bass & bass guitar, and Yoran Vroom - drums, create a sonic universe that feels contemplative, powerful, and wide open. Live recordings such as For a Script, Ka�n & Abel, and a surprising reinterpretation of Imagine showcase their dynamic energy and collective freedom.

Passing Fancy: Beauty in a Moment of Chaos, the AVIE debut by leading New York City early music ensemble Sonnambula, traverses music by several Renaissance composers who were forced to conceal their identities for social, religious or ethnic reasons. Yet their music transcended the disorder surrounding them, flourishing in the intersection of beliefs and styles. Disruption and displacement wasn't uncommon in 16th-and 17th-centuries Europe. During the Reformation, creative individuals, including composers, were often forced to conceal their identities - for reasons social, religious, ethnic, racial or otherwise. Yet despite - or perhaps due to - the disorder, musical styles and forms flourished, earning the era it's Renaissance designation and thus creating "Beauty in a Moment of Chaos". Sonnambula, an ensemble of New York City-based early music luminaries, bestow beauty on their AVIE debut, traversing an aural intersection of beliefs with northern and southern European styles. Here is the beauty of William Byrd and Richard Dering, two Catholics composing in Protestant England; of Leonora Duarte, a Portuguese-Jewish woman forced to live as a converso ("New Christian"), in Antwerp, and Parisian Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, whose lost works have re-emerged with a vengeance in our own time; of the Bolognese Alfonso Ferrabosco the elder who emigrated to England, and Salomone Rossi who unusually set Hebrew texts to Western-style polyphony from his relatively tolerant position in the court of Mantua. The release of Passing Fancy: Beauty in a Moment of Chaos coincides with Sonnambula's taking up residency at New York City's newly-renovated premiere museum, The Frick Collection.

For a long time, the fact that three of J.S. Bach's harpsichord concertos are arrangements of earlier violin concertos led scholars to suspect that the remaining concertos were also adaptations of lost works for strings or winds, prompting several musicologists to attempt reconstructions. However, recent research has shown that they are more likely arrangements of earlier keyboard works. But what would Bach have done if he had to perform one of these pieces again and wished to showcase a different solo instrument? Ensemble Odyssee explores this question with three brand-new arrangements, presented alongside Bach's own arrangement of his Fourth Brandenburg Concerto, each piece showcasing the virtuosity of the ensemble's four core members.

Preserved in three different libraries, the Marciana in Venice, the Library of the Naples Conservatory, and the State and University Library in Hamburg, the six cantatas that make up this world-premiere recording were composed by Benedetto Marcello in the early 18th century. These are thus youthful works, quite interesting for the originality of their writing, which helps us understand why their author was so highly regarded during his lifetime - even called the "prince of music" - and also by posterity, as he managed to blend his personal sensibility with lessons drawn from tradition and the influences of a life rich in cultural encounters. The compositional structure of these works - less known than his concertos and theatrical works - follows the traditional format of alternating recitatives and arias. However, this does not prevent the author from experimenting with innovative solutions, particularly in the treatment of the voice. Typical of Marcello's style is a certain inclination toward the bizarre, with the use of harmonies that can sound "estranging," sudden modulations, chromaticism, augmented sixth chords, and the melodic interval of the diminished fourth. In some passages, he even seems to anticipate the models of the "sublime" style theorized in the mid-to late 18th century.

The first 12 songs of the 15 in I canti dell'esilio - originally written for voice and small orchestra - were composed in the early months of 1945 before the Allied forces' arrival in Venice in April at the end of the War. They are a clear reflection of an ideological choice that guided Ennio Porrino: selecting texts linked to a 'tradition' and crafting a musical language retaining the clarity of melody, in harmony with the prosody of the text. This was supported by harmonies both modal and chromatic, within the boundaries set by Debussy and his influence. All 15 of the Canti dell'esilio follow this structure, but especially the first 12, where the classical sources (Greek poets, newly translated in Salvatore Quasimodo's now-famous versions) and the pseudo-troubadour medieval sources (in old French, German and Spanish) intersect with Italy's poetic heritage. Organized according to a historical principle, these works suggest that Porrino intended to create a cycle representing different epochs of Italian literature. The first part of the collection comprises the three Greek songs, the three troubadour songs, and the three ancient Italian songs (from the 13th to 15th centuries). These stand out for their liveliness and charm, though simple modal processes occasionally hint at melancholy. The second part opens with the Italian songs from the 16th and 18th centuries, where a vital, extroverted energy prevails in movement, sound and gestures that border on the theatrical. Then the last three songs revisit the theme of 'exile' in their titles. While in the overall title of the collection the word 'exile' might imply the solace sought by the exiled and found through poetry, in this final subset of three it assumes a more personal meaning of nostalgia and sorrow, inevitably evoking the composer's own fate in that tragic spring of 1945. The texts are by Porrino himself and are deeply expressive of personal despair. The other collection on this recording, the Canti di stagione (Songs of the Seasons), belongs to a more joyful period in Porrino's life in his early 20s. Composed in 1934, this work coincided with his attendance at Respighi's advanced composition course and with the emergence of Francesco Santoliquido's chamber songs, whose tragic influence would deeply shape Porrino's later choices. The collection opens with Notte d'inverno (Winter Night), set with dark and sombre tones and heavy ostinatos supporting dramatic declamation. In stark contrast, Mattino d'aprile nel bosco (April Morning in the Woods) is a light, sunny dance. The third piece, Afa (Heat), conveys the exhaustion of summer's oppressive heat through a monotonous, heavy rhythm. The fourth piece, Autunnale (Autumnal), is broad and complex, it's rhythm vibrant and engaging. Other information: - Recorded June 2024 in Rome, Italy - Bilingual booklet in English and Italian contains liner notes by the composer's daughter, Stefania Porrino - The sung texts are available at www. Brilliantclassics. com - Ennio Porrino (1910-1959) was an Italian composer known for his deep connection to Sardinian musical traditions and his ability to blend them with modern compositional techniques. Born in Cagliari, Sardinia, Porrino studied composition under Ottorino Respighi, which influenced his rich and evocative orchestration. His works often reflected the landscapes, folklore, and cultural identity of Sardinia, making him a significant figure in 20th-century Italian music. - One of his notable compositions is I canti dell'esilio (Songs of Exile), written in 1945. This work, composed at the end of World War II, is deeply emotional and reflects themes of longing, displacement, and nostalgia. The title itself suggests a sense of exile-possibly symbolic of the broader displacement caused by the war or a more personal reflection on isolation and identity. The piece is characterized by expressive melodies, poignant harmonies, and an underlying sense of melancholy. - Performed by Angela Nisi (soprano) and Enrica Ruggiero (piano).