Klaudia Rabiega: Dona Nobis Pacem Sacred Choral Works

Swiss pianist and composer Sylvie Courvoisier has been a defining figure on the contemporary jazz scene for 20 years and is at the epicenter of the New York music scene. She was also recently awarded the prestigious Swiss Grand Prix Musik 2025. She now follows up on the acclaimed recent releases - her solo album To be Other-Wise, and the atmospherically multi-layered duo album Angel Falls with the legendary Wadada Leo Smith - with a live album from her much-lauded trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Recorded during a European tour in February 2025, the album presents the quintessence of this outstanding trio. With each concert, with each album, the trio's working method becomes more defined. In deep musical trust with each other, the three exceptional musicians celebrate a detailed and precise music that is both ambiguous and wide open. "And that's what this album shows now. This joy, diversity, subtlety, this desire. (...) Losing oneself in the music, the delicious moment that unfolds heavenly. But so cunning, so complex, so pointed, as only true virtuosos can be," writes Ulrich Stock in the liner notes.

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.

The Summer Night Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic is the world's biggest annual classical open-air concert that takes place in the magical setting of the Schonbrunn Palace Baroque park in Vienna. This year marks the first time that Maestro Tugan Sokhiev will conduct the Summer Night Concert. The vocal soloist is world-renowned tenor Piotr Beczala, who will perform three iconic arias from: Georges Bizet's Carmen, Giacomo Puccini's Turandot and Emmerich Kalman's Grafin Mariza. With this open-air concert in Schonbrunn, the Vienna Philharmonic wishes to provide all Viennese, as well as visitors to the city, with a special musical experience in the impressive setting of Schonbrunn Palace and it's beautiful baroque gardens, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. Since 2004 the Vienna Philharmonic has provided an outstanding experience for the audience. The focus of this year's program is on well-known melodies from opera and operetta that lead us on a musical journey through various European landscapes und milieus.

This new recording brings together violinist Gil Shaham, conductor Eric Jacobsen, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in a program exploring the violin concerto as a vehicle for cultural memory and continuity. The album pairs Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 80, and Antonin Dvorak's Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53, with the world-premiere recording of "F. Harper," from The Famous People by Curtis Stewart. Coleridge-Taylor's concerto reveals a Romantic voice shaped by lyricism and rhythmic vitality, while Dvorak's work reflects folk influence and communal musical expression. Stewart's F. Harper responds through a contemporary lens, engaging questions of naming, lineage, and identity. Inspired by the layered meanings of "Slavonic," the work draws parallels between European histories of enslavement and the ways Black Americans continue to shape pride and cultural legacy today. Together, these works connect past and present through sound.

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER - PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING [CD] Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is one of the most celebrated musicals of all time, and this original London cast recording from 1986 remains the definitive recording. Michael Crawford's Tony Award-winning performance as The Phantom and Sarah Brightman's portrayal of Christine Daae helped make this the best-selling cast recording in history. Re-issued for the first time in decades, this classic album brings the unforgettable score to a new generation of listeners. From the title song to "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You," every track reflects the power and beauty that continue to make The Phantom of the Opera a global phenomenon nearly forty years after it's debut. Since it's premiere, The Phantom of the Opera has been seen by more than 160 million people in 195 cities and has received over 70 major theatre awards. It holds the record as the longest-running show in Broadway history and was the first British musical to debut at number one on the music charts. The recording has been certified Platinum in six countries.

This recording of the Ninth Symphony marks LPO Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski's fifth Mahler release on the LPO Label, captured live with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall on December 3, 2022. Jurowski has garnered an international reputation for his interpretation of Mahler's music, both on the podium, and through his distinguished recording legacy with the LPO. Mahler's Ninth was the composer's last symphony to be published during his lifetime. Written in the shadow of personal tragedy and his own heart condition, the work has often been heard as a farewell - to life, to Vienna, and to the world he knew. It's premiere was given in Vienna in June 1912 by Bruno Walter, Mahler's protege. Landmark performances with Walter and the LPO in the 1930s and 1940s helped ingrain Mahler's music into the Orchestra's DNA, a legacy that continues to shape the LPO's sound and spirit today.

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.

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.

Elmer Bernstein - Movie Themes, Mood Music & More 1952-62 - Elmer Bernstein was a composer and conductor who became renowned for his work in films and TV, writing, scoring and recording some of the most renowned and recognisable themes in in Hollywood history. He is not related to the renowned composer of stage musicals Leonard Bernstein. Born in 1922, he served in the USAF in WWII, working in Armed Forces Radio, and came to the fore in the early 1950s when he started writing for movies. This 44-track 2-CD collection primarily features soundtrack and commercial recordings of themes and other music written for films and albums during the first decade of his career. In addition, it includes selected titles from his albums "Blues And Brass" for Decca and "Movie & TV Themes" on the Choreo label. It includes "The Man With the Golden Arm", "Staccato's Theme", "The Magnificent Seven", and "Walk On The Wild Side", plus themes from "The Ten Commandments", "The Comancheros", "To Kill A Mockingbird" and more. Although he composed for many different genres of film, his style was very distinctive, characterised by dramatic and atmospheric melodies and arrangements that invariably conjured up the mood and imagery of the subject. Comprising a selection of works from his early career, this collection offers an entertaining and evocative showcase for that style.

Spyro Gyra - Live In Leverkusen 2022 - This fantastic live album from the Leverkusen Jazz Days on November 7, 2022, features one of the most successful U.S. jazz fusion bands, Spyro Gyra. For Spyro Gyra's performance at the Leverkusen Jazz Days on November 7, 2022, the band's lineup consisted of Jay Beckenstein (saxophone), Tom Schuman (keyboards, piano), Julio Fernandez (guitars), Scott Ambush (bass), and Lionel Cordew (drums, percussion). "Art manifests itself in a variety of styles and contexts. That's why we started making music in the first place, " is Spyro Gyra's philosophy. And the band's live program that evening in Leverkusen was just as diverse, including their big hits "Shaker Song" and "Morning Dance.

Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format. A definitive recording of "St Matthew Passion" and an emblematic recording by Karl Richter. Includes a booklet with Japanese and English texts. Reissue due to the discontinuation of HR cutting specification manufacturing. [Performers] Ernst Haefliger (Evangelist, aria: tenor), Kieth Engen (Jesus: bass), Antony Faulberg (First Woman, Pilate's Wife: soprano), Max Preobstl (Judas, Peter, Pilate, High Priest: bass), Irmgard Seefried (aria: soprano), Hertha Toepper (aria, Second Woman: alto), Dietrich Fischer Dieskau (aria: bass), Munich Boys Choir, Munich Bach Orchestra and Choir, conductor: Karl Richter. Recording: June to August 1958, Munich, Herkulessa

On Rick Braun Plays Chuck Mangione, Braun performs every track on the same Couesnon flugelhorn he played as a student at the Eastman School of Music and with the band Auracle-fitted with the cherished Giardinelli mouthpiece gifted to him by the legend himself during a meeting at the 2007 Long Beach Jazz Festival. The collection features an extraordinary roster of collaborators including original Mangione guitarist Grant Geissman, saxophonists Richard Elliot and Tom Scott, keyboardist Philippe Saisse, and flutist Steve Kujala.

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 Dürrüoglu. Their contemporary perspectives extend and renew Albinoni's legacy, inscribing this timeless cycle in a resolutely modern sensibility.

CHOPIN ORBIT The eagerly anticipated second album by celebrated Japanese pianist and composer Hayato Sumino (aka 'Cateen') Available on CD & Vinyl. - Following the success of his acclaimed Sony debut Human Universe, Hayato Sumino-known globally as 'Cateen'-returns with Chopin Orbit, a conceptually rich and emotionally resonant album that places the music of Frederic Chopin at it's center. - Chopin, Sumino's favorite composer, has long been a gravitational force in his artistic life. That connection was first spotlighted during his standout performances at the 2021 International Chopin Competition and now takes full flight in Chopin Orbit. This unique collection features Sumino's original compositions inspired by Chopin's masterpieces, not as imitations but as creative echoes-melodies and motifs reimagined through the lens of a 21st century classical artist. - Included are pieces such as Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasie op. 61, Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Berceuse, and Raindrop Prelude, alongside Hayato's original works White Keys and Post Rain. Also featured are works by Thomas Ades, Leopold Godowsky, and Leos Janacek-highlighting Chopin's influence across generations

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.

Masterworks Wiener Philharmoniker & Yannick Nezet-Seguin Neujahrskonzert 2026 / New Year'S Concert 2026 / Concert Du Nouvel An 2026. For the first time, Yannick Nezet-Seguin will take the podium at the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert. The Canadian conductor, who has long been associated with the orchestra, is the Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, he will present, alongside popular pieces such as "Roses from the South" and the "Fledermaus Quadrille", five new works being performed there for the first time - including compositions by the American Florence Price (1887-1953) and Josephine Weinlich (1848-1887), who founded Europe's first women's orchestra. The New Year's Concert is one of the biggest events in classical music; it is broadcast to over 150 countries and reaches more than 150 million viewers.

Principal conductor Ivor Bolton will bid farewell to 'his' orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, in summer 2025 with a 'French' album. He will hand over the baton to his successor Markus Poschner for the new season. So as a farewell, here are symphonic and vocal works by Ernest Chausson. The Symphony in B flat major recorded here is characterised by it's lyrical melody and harmonic sophistication, which builds a bridge between romantic expressiveness and impressionistic sounds. In comparison, the vocal works also presented here, such as 'Viviane' or 'Helene', often have a more intimate, vocal quality that emphasises the human voice. These differences illustrate Chausson's versatility as a composer and his ability to combine fascinating instrumentation with profound emotions in both instrumental and vocal music.

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 außerst 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 Bartók'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...'

After exploring the Gran Partita, Nicolas Baldeyrou opens the doors to concertante music in this second volume. The programme displays the two faces of Mozart: the youthful, all-conquering genius of his Parisian period, and the supreme master of his final year in Vienna - the two phases united by his overriding desire to make the instrument 'sing'. 'Performing these major works on historical instruments is not a nostalgic exercise, but an attempt to recover the music's acoustic authenticity,' says Baldeyrou. For the Concerto, the use of a copy of the period basset clarinet is essential in order to recreate the melodic line, tessitura and colours demanded by Mozart. Where the modern clarinet 'homogenises' the sound, the historical basset clarinet offers an infinite palette. With the Kolner Akademie and leading soloists, Baldeyrou plays with the intrinsic vulnerability of the instrument and sculpts each note, bringing us as close as possible to the composer's last creative impulse.

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.

Paul Büttner was born in Dresden in 1870 and studied violin and oboe there at the Conservatory. Over the years, Büttner increasingly established himself as a fantastic musician in Dresden. But he stayed virtually completely unknown before 1915, when the famous Arthur Nikisch premiered his Symphony No. 3. Since then, Büttner was named one of the greatest and most important contemporary symphonists in succession to Brahms and Bruckner. His Symphony No. 4 from 1917 continued the success and was performed by many different orchestras. In 1933, his music was marked as "unwanted," and the regime deleted him completely from the public music culture.