Two metaphors intertwine in the Roseti del mare (Rose gardens of the sea). The rose garden is the shared place, the multifaceted, multicoloured, thorny and delicate project that well embodies the evolutionary drive of the young performers of Polimnia. The enigmatic vastness of the sea provides the setting in the consolidated repertoire of many great composers. It's presence is manifest in Robert Schumann's Romanzen fur Frauenstimmen (Meerfey, Der Wassermann, In Meeres Mitten), and it recurs in the choices of numerous French composers (for example, in C. Debussy's La Mer), a trait that clearly re-sonates in the fluid and elegant writing of Gabriel Faure featured here. Across it's surface, the sea incarnates the spontaneity, luminosity, and immediacy of Faure's invention, while in it's depths resides the Schumannian style, introspective and severe, directing it's gaze towards Reflection and the layering of Thought. With the Polimnia vocal ensemble, I chose to work on a challenging project, far removed from easy transcriptions or more straightforward choral adaptations. For all of us, it was like going out into the open sea, with no footholds or furrows of well-trodden routes. A treacherous journey, devoid of certainties yet full of opportunities for a totally shared research into the meanings and sounds expressed by the young performers already rich in their own time, ranging from 17 to 25 years of age. The fact that young is not an adjective to be equated with superficial is the conviction I have matured in my long experience as director of the children's choir from which the Polimnia Ensemble almost entirely originates. The result we have achieved is the impetus that moves us towards new challenges, new future projects. Claudio Fenoglio

This album presents orchestral works by three French composers who saw Spain as a paradise of warmth, fragrance and colour, whether real or imagined. From the vivid evocations of Debussy's Images and Ibert's Escales, to the dances and landscapes that inspired Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole, these masterpieces of Impressionism show the considerable impact Spanish culture had on French composers in the early 20th century.

CORO ALLEGRO: WE ARE HERE is a stirring choral album that amplifies voices of resistance, resilience, and remembrance. Featuring Kareem Roustom's Rage Against the tyrant(s) and Eric Banks' Aluta Continua: The Passion of David Kato Kisule, this collection weaves together protest chants, poetry, and sacred texts to confront oppression and honor those who fight for justice. With performances by Coro Allegro under the direction of David Hodgkins and a constellation of guest artists, CORO ALLEGRO: WE ARE HERE is a call to action, an evocative tribute to the power of music to bear witness and inspire change.

Why Preludes & Fugues? Everyone loves a fugue! But the prelude is important too. It should set up the fugue in dramatic fashion. Although my fugues have expositions, episodes and stretto sections, they diverge from the strict forms of the Baroque period. A pure 3 or 4 voice fugue is modeled on 4-part choral writing where each voice is maintained withing it's limited range. In the classical era - Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms all wrote 'fugue-like' pieces known as 'fugati'. These pieces often started out formally but soon broke out of their strict voice leading with runs, arpeggios and block chords. Fugue writing continued into the 20th century, but losing the tonal centers and discernable key changes weakened the strength and logic of the form. Tonal fugue writing calls for independent, melodious, horizontal lines, while also expressing logical chord progressions vertically. It's tricky! Why write piano music in this style these days? Actually, they were all composed in the late 1970's during my student days at Boston University. I was having a great time, and my teacher, David del Tredici was writing fully tonal music himself. Bottom line: if you have one life to live, you should write the kind of music you like!

Two decades after their pioneering 2004 album�New French Song, soprano Alison Smart Fisher and pianist Katharine Durran return with a bold and timely sequel.�New French Song II�presents ten newly commissioned settings of French texts by women and non-binary composers, expanding the art song repertoire with fresh perspectives and luminous creativity. The original�New French Song�brought together 20 British composers, each setting a French poem-predominantly Romantic and written by men. This second collection rebalances the picture, offering a rich, contemporary counterpoint. The texts, all by women and non-binary poets, span eight centuries of Francophone literature, from Europe to the Caribbean, and reflect a wide-ranging poetic tradition-from the sensual cadences of Symbolism to the fractured textures of post-Modernism. The themes are universal: love's first stirrings, it's losses and partings, the solace of solitude, and the healing power of nature. Chosen with care to resonate with younger readers as well as seasoned listeners, these texts speak with clarity and nuance, free from gendered conventions, yet charged with emotional depth. The composers-among them Deirdre Gribbin, Shirley J. Thompson, Lesley-Jane Rogers, and Grainne Mulvey-respond with a dazzling range of musical idioms. From lyrical stillness to rhythmic intensity, their settings are at once rooted in the tradition of French melodie and alert to the sonic world of today. The resulting collection is kaleidoscopic in colour and tone, yet unified by a shared commitment to text, voice, and the art of expressive song. Two bonus tracks complete the programme: a new song each by Nicola LeFanu and Daryl Runswick, both closely associated with the performers and longstanding champions of new music. Together,�New French Song I & II�form a landmark achievement-an ambitious, beautifully realised cycle that now offers a more inclusive and representative vision of what the modern songbook can be. This album is a compelling testament to artistic curiosity, collaboration, and the enduring vitality of song. For listeners drawn to the intersection of poetry and new music, or for those seeking fresh voices in the classical landscape,�New French Song II�is a significant and rewarding release.

Bauer's song cycle Afterimages. A progression for voice and piano takes up Schoeck's cycle Nachhall, op. 70 and transfers it to the present day. Immediately after each song by Othmar Schoeck follows the corresponding progression by Michael Emanuel Bauer. Bauer's adaptation does not stop at the texts by Matthias Claudius and Nikolaus Lenau. In the tradition of Raymond Queneau and the Oulipo group, the texts are deconstructed in a formal-lettristic manner and reassembled.

This recording with AZICA Records marks the first modern-day capture of the music of Julia Lazarevna Weissberg Rimsky-Korsakov (1878-1942). During her lifetime, Weissberg ascended the heights of cultural life in Russia's "Silver Age", only to be relegated to obscurity in the subsequent era of socialist realism. A prominent composer, critic, and public figure, she was particularly celebrated for her art songs, symphonic poems, and children's operas. Her works, known for their harmonic ingenuity, were widely published and performed during her lifetime in both Russia and Germany. Born to a prominent Jewish family in Orenburg, Weissberg was a composition student of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and continued her studies in Berlin with Max Reger and Englebert Humperdink. While in Germany, she saw the premieres of many of her songs for voice and orchestra, which received reviews across Germany, France, England, and Russia. By the time of her return to St. Petersburg in 1912, she was a widely-published composer, publishing under the name Julie Weissberg. She subsequently married musicologist Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai's son. The couple founded the first Russian music magazine Muz�kal'n�y sovremennik (Contemporary Music) for which Weissberg served on the editorial board and was one of the main reviewers. In her lifetime, Weissberg published more than 75 works, including art songs, symphonic poems, symphonies, chamber works, folk songs, and operas for children. Contemporary Russian composer Mikhail Gnesin referred to her as "the first professional female composer in the history of Russian musical art of the 20th century," and contemporary critic Leonid Sabanayeff claimed that she was "a master in the full sense of the word" for her extraordinary musical and text setting abilities. Many of her art songs feature texts by prominent contemporary women creatives from across the globe, including Indian activist Sarajini Naidu (1879-1949), Polish author and activist Maria Knopnicka (1842-1910), German children's author Paula Dehmel (1862-1918), and her close collaborator Sophia Parnok (1885-1933), later known as the 'Russian Sappho'. Weissberg was a leader in the contemporary music community, championing the creation of new works. She died in 1942 with her son Vsevolod Rimsky-Korsakov in the Nazi siege of Leningrad. Soprano Sarah Moulton Faux, an Opera America and America Prize winner, first saw mention of Julie Weissberg's work while researching the art songs of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Intrigued, Sarah began a two year research project into Weissberg's catalogue with the assistance of musicologist Dr. Olga Panteleeva. Together, they found a treasure trove of Weissberg's published manuscripts in the Russian State Library in Moscow. Panteleeva also discovered a doctoral dissertation by Mazur Marina Moiseeva from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Composer Julie Weissberg: Personality and Creative Heritage (According to the Materials of the Archives of St. Petersburg), which proved to be an invaluable resource. Fifteen songs for voice and piano handpicked from that treasure trove comprise this album, featuring Sarah Moulton Faux and internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Konstantin Soukhovetski. Seven-time Grammy-winner for Classical Music Producer of the Year Judith Sherman is the lead producer and sound engineer.

This is already the third recording by a highly unusual ensemble. Perhaps the only ensemble in the world featuring guitar and harp. A truly distinctive sound combination. Both artists are also represented on Musicaphon with solo recordings; Maximilian Mangold now has well over ten. And both have a passion for contemporary music. All the works on this CD were composed specifically for them.

The most important musical setting of the Nativity before Johann Sebastian Bach

The name of Domenico Ferrari (1722-1780) was well known throughout Europe in the second half of the 18th century. He was considered one of the finest violin virtuosos as well as a sublime composer. One of Tartini's best Italian pupils, Ferrari quickly gained fame first at the imperial court in Vienna and later at the Wurttemberg court in Stuttgart. After his successful debut at the Concert Spirituel in Paris in 1754, he was granted a ten-year royal privilege to publish his works in France, where he remained until the end of his life, never to return to his native Piacenza. During his stay in Paris, Ferrari published six sets of sonatas for violin with continuo. His Op. 3, featured on this CD, dates back to 1760 and consists of six sonatas. These works showcase a blend of late Baroque and Classical characteristics.

Following his recent heroic Met debut as Hermann in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, Arsen Soghomonyan makes his solo recording debut for Delos. A fast-rising figure in the dramatic repertoire, the Armenian tenor has enjoyed success at major opera houses such as Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro di San Carlo, Bolshoi Theatre and Staatsoper Wien. In his album Bridges of Voice and Soul, Arsen lends his powerful voice to some of the greatest Italian arias; "Nessun dorma" and "E lucevan le stelle" by Puccini, Verdi's "Niun mi tema" and "Vesti la giubba" by Leoncavallo are some of the delights that comprise this operatic feast, enlivened by the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra and conductor Constantine Orbelian.

Francisco Mignone became a leading figure in the Brazilian music scene after his return in 1929 following lengthy studies in Europe. His four Fantasias Brasileiras for piano and orchestra are part of his nationalist phase, with the first in the cycle initiated by soloist Joao de Souza Lima, who asked Mignone for a work with Brazilian flavour. These works share a festive and exuberant style to which the composer would return in his Burlesca e Toccata, which requires acrobatic virtuosity from the soloist in music that surprises by juxtaposing atonality with popular themes.

Julius Benedict studied with Hummel and Weber, beginning as a virtuoso pianist and then becoming a conductor and operatic composer. In 1835 he moved to England where he spent the next 50 years as a much-admired composer, teacher and writer. His most famous work is the opera The Lily of Killarney but the music for his own instrument displays a precocious talent. This is most evident in the Piano Sonata No. 1 in E major, where novelty and beguiling modulations co-exist with the influence of his teachers. The smaller pieces exhibit his taste, finesse and maturity, while the Andante and Rondo Brillante is a glittering showpiece.

For his debut leader project on SteepleChase, Bollenback chose a bold and distinct approach, opting for a guitar and bass duo format. Teaming up with bassist Boris Kozlov, a three-time Grammy winner. Bollenback explores new musical territories with a mix of original compositions by Bollenback and Kozlov, along with jazz standards that highlight their exceptional musical connection and rhythmic synergy. Renowned for his versatility and dynamism on the guitar, Bollenback's unique approach to jazz and blues has earned him accolades from legends like George Benson, who praised him as a "versatile dynamo on guitar." Over the years, Bollenback has collaborated with numerous jazz greats, including organist Joey DeFrancesco, appearing on nineteen of his albums and earning a Grammy nomination for co-producing 2011's Never Can Say Goodbye.

Among the notable musicians born in the city of Pavia, Franco Vittadini is undoubtedly one of the most significant. The city's Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali is named in his honor, and he served as it's director from 1924 until his death. Maria Cecilia Farina uses historical organs on which to perform the author's organ music in a precise and philological manner. Rarely - and always in deference to the liturgical context - does Vittadini employ a grand and solemn language, using organo pleno sonorities or indulging in virtuosic displays. His stylistic hallmark is instead a gentle melancholy: a crepuscular atmosphere - comparable to the poetry of Guido Gozzano or Sergio Corazzini - and a contemplative, idyllic/nostalgic attitude pervade his pages, expressing his sense of faith.