Manfred holds a special place in Tchaikovsky's oeuvre, as it is unique: a symphony composed on an extremely large scale around a wide-ranging literary programme. Manfred is the embodiment of several facets of Tchaikovsky's individuality: it presents both Russian and European features, Tchaikovsky's own talents as a psychologist and a shrewd judge of character, his abilities as a writer for the theatre, and his mastery in creating orchestral colours. The score itself dazzles with it's variety of images and sounds - from airy to grandiose and powerful, from pastoral and peaceful to dense and dark. The dramatic concept of the work as a whole, it's psychological portrayal of the protagonists and the vivid expression in their development all come to reveal the characteristic style of Tchaikovsky's late works. What is more, Manfred remains fascinating thanks to the fact that it emerged at the crossroads of various literary, philosophical and musical trends during 19th century. The album was recorded on the eve of the 185th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's birth.

With over 30 leader/co-leader albums on SteepleChase, Andy LaVerne stands as one of jazz’s most quietly fearless innovators. His new project, Crystal Night, expands the dynamic chemistry of his acclaimed trio—bassist Mike Richmond and drummer Jason Tiemann—by adding vibraphone’s rising star Sasha Berliner, whose artistry evokes the spirit of Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton while charting her own path. This quartet offering features ten newly written LaVerne compositions, each meticulously designed to explore subtle harmonic colors, metric shifts, and emotional depth. From the title track’s crystalline lyricism to the explosive energy of “Power Play” and the gently introspective “Second Thoughts,” Crystal Night is a study in texture, trust, and ensemble clarity. “If you haven’t known Andy LaVene ever, This ine is a perfect introduction. It’s lyrical, musicaly intensive and most eloquent.” (Ole Mayyiemen – Jazz Special on SCCD 31818 Genesis)

HC25024 Schelb II "My encounter with Josef Schelb's music can be best described as a feeling of extraordinary joy. One hears such expressive sounds, paired with carefully harmonised structures. In addition, there is always a wonderfully playful approach to the various forms and to the peculiarities of some specific moments, as can also be found in Richard Strauss and Sergei Prokofiev. Definitely a musician's composer!" (Leo Siberski)

For fifteen exciting years the manuscripts of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's keyboard concertos have held me in their thrall. Both delightful and challenging at the same time, a hitherto unpublished and therefore completely unknown world revealed it's hidden beauties. With an eighth CD, my series comprising around half of all the available keyboard concertos now comes to an end. This musical form - according to Emanuel Bach himself his 'most personal' - occupied the composer repeatedly throughout his lifetime. From the astonishingly self-confident concerto Wq1 by a 19-year-old to the cheerfully ironic Wq47 from the year of his death, a long and very fruitful career is illustrated by the search for distinctive new means of expression. As later with the symphonies composed in Hamburg, Emanuel Bach here also took 'all the liberties he needed'. We find bold innovation as well as exuberant kinetic joy, exquisite chromaticism and demanding virtuosity alongside profound contemplation. Michael Rische

Ignatius Sancho: Music of an Eighteenth-Century Black Englishman The Black British writer and musician Ignatius Sancho (ca. 1729-1780) may have been born into slavery. By 1749, he had become part of the household of the Duke of Montagu, where he worked as a valet, later becoming a shopkeeper in the neighborhood of Westminster. Sancho is known today as a writer through his posthumously published Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African (1782).

Composer Daniel Strong Godfrey's Toward Light presents three quintets for string quartet and piano, guitar, and cello respectively, showcasing his expressive, finely crafted chamber music. Featuring performances by the Cassatt Quartet with guests pianist Ursula Oppens, guitarist Eliot Fisk, and cellist Nicole Johnson, the works on Toward Light are elegantly balanced compositions, cohesive conceptions that are deeply felt.

Enno Poppe has 'tailor-made' concise ensemble works for two of the most important ensembles of contemporary music: "Gold" - a purely vocal work for the SWR Vokalensemble - and "Korper" - for the Ensemble Modern. In the three-part a cappella work "Gold" (one of only two choral compositions to date), Poppe indulges for the first time in his love of the lustfully excessive texts by Arno Holz (1863-1929), one of the most important representatives of German Naturalism and literary Modernism. The poems are parodistically related to less humorous high literature. The SWR Vokalensemble's supple miracle sound appears confidently in various combinations, sometimes fanned out in 24 voices as in old vocal polyphony. "Korper" takes us to another end of the scale of possible sounds. Here, the 21 soloists of the Ensemble Modern form a formidable big band, augmented by appropriate woodwind and brass instruments (including saxophones, of course). Here, however, Poppe is more concerned with exploring and expanding what the big band provides as a 'sound body', i.e. The colors, dynamic and rhythmic possibilities, with the means of New Music, an art that the Ensemble Modern has truly perfected. As so often with Poppe, the piece "Korper" goes through multiple processes of intensification and collapse. In the climaxes, the physicality of the music is almost overwhelming. Nevertheless, the nuclei of the piece are the intimate, thinly scored moments when the electric strings ever so gradually rise up with the percussion, or when a saxophone, a keyboard, or a trombone steps out of the thicket of sound and is allowed a few moments of self-discovery.

Duo Gelland was founded in 1994 by the spouses Cecilia Gelland and Martin Gelland, bringing their individual perspectives on contemporary and early repertoire to the ensemble. This recording of their interpretations of four Vivaldi's Sonatas for Two Violins celebrates the Red Priest's physical, virtuosic approach to the instrument. Duo Gelland fills their performances with daring, lithe ornamentation and expressive subtlety and variation not often heard in contemporary readings of these works.

Star pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard presents Landler, a collection of delightful dances composed by Franz Schubert. Rustic and cheerful, these miniatures display a fascinating side of Schubert's musical persona. Their simplicity is deceptive, as these dances are frequently shaken up by Schubert's harmonic wandering soul, yet remaining lyrical, picturesque and tuneful. For Aimard, there is a kinship between Schubert's Landler and Kurtag's Jatekok, pieces that he often performs side by side, sharing a combination of playfulness and Modernism that also calls the great twentieth-century miniaturist Anton Webern to mind. By avoiding almost any repetition, Aimard evokes a sleepwalker's journey rather than a series of dances. 8717306260343 PNTA5187034.2 44281755 .00 19.99 .16 PENTATONE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/24/2024 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/42/4327442-3147656.jpg 52 1 N HABERECHT,KERSTIN / JUNG,ALEXANDER FACES Faces is the title of jazz quartet MAINZ 04's debut album. Four faces standing behind this album: four distinct characters which are all passionate musicians and saxophonists. The quartet could be described as interdisciplinary, with it's players coming from such diverse directions as jazz, classical, and heavy metal, playing off each other and swapping influences from modern and Latin jazz, funk, rock, and tango 608917143225 DMOO71432C.2 43635306 .00 16.99 .21 DOUBLE MOON COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 08/18/2023 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/45/4230845-3146834.jpg 9 1 N KLOSSEK,MARCUS BLINK 6 This multi-dimensional unity filters Klossek's compositional explorations of melody, harmony and rhythm through the lens of six master improvisers, arranged in a way that allows the music to sound differently every time. Music that features many influences and genres from contemporary jazz, experimental rock, new music and beyond as well as dynamic interplay between all the musicians. 608917143324 DMOO71433C.2 43635313 .00 16.99 .12 DOUBLE MOON COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 08/18/2023 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/46/4230846-3146835.jpg 8 1 N VERDI / PIAVE / MELI ERNANI 8007144379728 DNMC37972CDVD 43635320 .00 36.99 .19 DYNAMIC DIGITAL VIDEO DISC CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 08/18/2023 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/47/4230847-3130226.jpg 47 1 N VERDI / PIAVE / MELI ERNANI Based on a play by Victor Hugo, Verdi's Ernani was an immediate success, and as his most popular and frequently performed opera it became a cornerstone of his burgeoning reputation in the mid-1800s. Contemporary critics remarked that 'coming out of the theatre, people were already singing [those] catchy tunes... Few scores have made a stronger, more powerful impression.' Ernani is a dramatic and intensely memorable tale of rebellion and romance - the chilling presence of the man in black and the drama of a joyful wedding turned to intense tragedy remains one of Verdi's most compelling operatic creations. This acclaimed production was the first to be staged at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino since 1965. 8007144579722 DNMC57972CBR 43635337 .00 36.99 .21 DYNAMIC BLU-RAY CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 08/18/2023 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/48/4230848-3130232.jpg 43 1 N BRONNEMULLER / ENSEMBLE CONCERT ROYAL COLOGNE SONATAS & ARIETTAS Fascinating music by a composer who was popular during his lifetime and is unknown today in very colorful interpretation 4012476569956 MUSP56995C.2 43635511 .00 16.99 .12 MUSICAPHON COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 08/18/2023 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/68/4230868-3141178.jpg 19 1 N ALBENIZ / LAIZ / SACRISTAN PIANO MUSIC - RAPSODIA ESPANOLA CHANTS D'ESPAGNE Spanish Classics series. This is the ninth and final volume in the Albéniz pano music series. The focus here is on Albéniz's compositional evolution and his use of inspired folk-based melodies, Hispanic nostalgia and vivid dance rhythms, encapsulated by the intoxicating Chants d'Espagne. The album also includes five works heard in exciting new arrangements for two pianos made expressly for this recording. Miguel Ángel R. Laiz is joined by Santiago L. Sacristán in the works for two pianos. 747313392773 NXS8573927C.2 43635535 .00 19.99 .19 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 08/25/2023 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/70/4230870-3143493.jpg 2 1 N THOMAS / OSOWSKI / THOMPSON TRANSFORMATIONS Born in Rochester, New York, David Evan Thomas has written in a variety of genres: band, orchestral, chamber music, songs, and seventy choral works. This is the first album of his piano music. 044747402826 CAV4028C.2 43674947 .00 17.99 .19 CENTAUR COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 09/01/2023 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/74/4235474-3139312.jpg 33 1 N PARRY / CONNOLLY / LONDON MOZART PLAYERS SCENES FROM SHELLEY'S PROMETHEUS UNBOUND Hubert Parry (1848 - 1918), regarded by many (including Edward Elgar) as the finest English composer since Purcell, and as the father of the modern English tradition, is best known for his hymn Jerusalem (immortalised by the Women's Institute and English cricket supporters alike!). His anthem I was glad, written for the coronation of Edward VII, in 1902, has been used also at the coronations of George V, Elizabeth II, and Charles III (who is a proclaimed fan of Parry's music). He taught composition at London's Royal College of Music from 1883 to 1895, when he succeeded Sir George Grove as director of the College, a post he held until his death. His distinguished list of pupils included Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Frank Bridge, and John Ireland. Inspired initially by the German romantics Mendelssohn and Schumann, Parry quickly became a devotee of Brahms and Wagner, whose influences can be heard in much of his output. But, from his earliest works, his own individual voice can be heard very clearly. Commissioned for the Three Choirs Festival, in Gloucester in 1880, his Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound is just such an early work. The première received a mixed reception, but despite numerous repeat performances, in Cambridge, Oxford, and London, all with rave reviews, the piece sank into obscurity. Vernon Handley gave a performance for BBC Radio 3 in 1980, to mark the centenary of the première, but this world première recording is the first chance for modern audiences to hear this outstanding work. 095115531723 CHN5317CSACD 43675050 .00 21.99 .25 CHANDOS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 09/08/2023 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/85/4235485-3152788.jpg 38 1 N ST MARTIN'S VOICES LUCY WALKER: CHORAL WORKS This compelling debut album from composer Lucy Walker showcases one of the UK's most exciting emerging voices in choral composition. Written during her residency with St Martin's Voices, the works trace a journey of artistic growth and spiritual depth, from the hopeful intimacy of Today to the shimmering expansiveness of I saw eternity. Walker's music is deeply rooted in the choral tradition, yet distinctly contemporary her harmonic language radiant and text-driven, her textures luminous and finely woven. Under the sensitive direction of Andrew Earis, St Martin's Voices bring remarkable nuance and warmth to these performances, revealing the emotional resonance and craftsmanship in each piece. Whether drawing on plainsong, part-song or contrapuntal dance, Walker's voice is unmistakably her own lyrical, thoughtful, and full of light. This album is both a celebration of collaboration and a moving portrait of a composer whose music speaks with clarity, heart and vision. 5060262794043 RSCL10361.2 45383656 .00 16.99 .20 RESONUS CLASSICS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 11/14/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/91/4446491-3422632.jpg 5 1 N BODENDORFF,MARIE-LUISE AUSGEWAHLTE KLAVIERWERKE The fact that Niels Wilhelm Gade became famous as a composer primarily for his symphonic and concertante music is probably one of the reasons why his piano music, despite being widely published in print during his lifetime, has been relegated to the shadows. Marie-Luise Bodendorff presents a selection of Gade's piano works here, which makes it clear that we should revise our image of Gade. 4260052386774 ARSP38677.2 45424472 .00 18.99 .24 ARS PRODUKTION COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/17/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/47/4449247-3432604.jpg 0 1 N SO PERCUSSION 25X25 In celebration of their 25th year together as one of the most adventurous and influential percussion ensembles in contemporary music, So Percussion announces the release of 25x 25. In keeping with the group's forward-looking mission, this 8-disc box set is not a retrospective; more characteristically, it's a stand-alone listening experience, featuring more than 8 hours of entirely new and previously unreleased recordings, with each piece written for, in collaboration with, and premiered by So Percussion. Over the last 25 years, the members of So - Jason Treuting, Adam Sliwinski, Josh Quillen, and Eric Cha-Beach - have been hailed for their gripping performances and wildly creative collaborations. Cantaloupe Music (the label launched by the Bang on a Can collective, which released So's first-ever album in 2004), is pleased to offer this collection to longtime fans and newcomers alike. It's both a comprehensive portrait, and a forecasting of where contemporary chamber music is heading. 713746321024 CNLP21210.2 45424755 .00 99.99 .99 CANTALOUPE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/17/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/76/4449276-3432636.jpg 33 8 N KARSKI QUARTET BACEWICZ: STR QRT NO. 4 PNO QNT NO. 1 This recording marks an important addition to the discography of Grazyna Bacewicz, a composer whose growing recognition stems from the exceptional quality of her music and it's direct resonance with listeners. The String Quartet No. 4 (1951) and Piano Quintet No. 1 (1952) embody these qualities, offering a clear testimony to such qualities and an ideal path to approach Bacewicz's distinctive voice. The performances are no less than idiomatic, delivered with conviction and freshness by a young, leading Polish-Belgian string quartet: the inspiring enthusiasm conveyed by the members of the Karski Quartet has a communicative drive that inevitably infects the listener. From the journal of Maria Modlinska: 11 December 1951, Warsaw, Tuesday. O joy! Wonderful weather for Grazyna's return from Belgium. [...] I waited at home with tea and cake. The table set, the apartment decorated with flowers. The plane was two hours late, they arrived at home around six. Grazyna, though very tired and slimmed down, was in an excellent mood. [...] She told us about performing in the embassy in Brussels, in Liège and in other cities. Recording for the radio. 8 concerts in total. Everywhere huge success, and award ceremony on the 8th. [...] her 4th String Quartet, awarded with the 1st prize at the international competition in Liège, played at every concert by the Quatuor Municipal de Liège. [...] She was received very enthusiastically, cordially, and they expressed much interest in her compositions - they will play them."

Jenna Nyman

New recordings of High-Baroque concertos and sonatas by a forgotten English composer living in 18th-century Rome. Born in Leicester around 1673, Robert Valentine came from a family of musicians, but found his vocation and his career path once he moved to Rome in his 20s. Working as a violinist and flautist for several churches, he was evidently proficient in several other instruments such as the oboe, and quickly found his feet as a composer with an ear for public taste, and the ability to translate his instrumental virtuosity into original invention on the page. The present album takes a representative sample of that fluent invention with sonatas and 'concertos' (also written for chamber forces) from several different collections. A Sonata for two recorders holds instant appeal for anyone captivated by Vivaldi's writing for the instrument. A Concerto in B flat, for recorder, two violins and ensemble, is worthy of comparison with the work of the Venetian master, for it's brilliance and intensity. By contrast, the style of the 'Concerto con Flauto Traversiero' leans towards a crystalline simplicity, well suited to the delicate sound of the transverse flute of the period, and capable of producing those chiaroscuro effects and dynamic nuances that the recorder lacks. In each case, Valentine writes sensitively for his chosen forces. A pair of sonatas for flute and basso continuo, published in 1735 as part of Valentine's Op.13, are effectively elegant Baroque dance-suites - whereas an Op.13 published elsewhere under Valentine's name includes a violin sonata written in the galant style, full of rustic fanfares and flourishes. Founded and led by the flautist Enrico Casularo, Ensemble Afflatus specialises in the performance and recording of little-known, often unpublished music from 18th-century Italy. Casulero is also an editor of this repertoire, and a teacher of Baroque flute at the Santa Cecilia conservatoire in Rome. He is joined here by colleagues with no less expertise in the repertoire, and the album makes an ideal introduction to the art of Robert Valentine.

Tomasz Ritter, winner of the Bruges Festival Competition 2024, here follows the traditional overview of Beethoven's musical language and devotes his recital to three sonatas drawn from the three creative periods: op. 2/1 (1795), op. 31/3 (1802) and op. 109 (1820). Ritter has also chosen three instruments that are close to those Beethoven played and reflect the evolution of piano construction: two Viennese instruments copied from originals by Anton Walter and Nanette Streicher, and an original Broadwood piano that is almost identical to the one the famous English piano maker gave the composer.

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.

This programme showcases the euphonium's warmth, emotive quality and astonishing agility with a vibrant tapestry of contemporary chamber music that amply demonstrates it's unique character. From the jazz-inflected grooves of Simon Parkin's Skunk to meditative reflections such as Einaudi's renowned evocation of sunsets in Due Tramonti, this collection brings together composers from diverse backgrounds whose works reimagine the sonic potential of this versatile instrument. Whether exploring nostalgia or joy, virtuoso fireworks or serene tranquillity, each piece contributes to a compelling narrative of the euphonium's modern journey.

Internationally celebrated as both a soloist and conductor, Florian Krumpock has more than proven his outstanding capability in the international concert scene. "Forget Lang Lang and Arcadi Volodos. There are highly virtuoso keyboard tigers in Austria too", was the verdict of the daily newspaper "Die Presse" on the pianist's solo debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus. On this album, Florian Krumpock presents two of Robert Schumann's seminal works Fantasiestucke, Op. 12 and Symphonic etudes, Op. 13 both deeply intertwined with his great love and future wife, Clara Wieck. The album's title, "Between Eusebius and Florestan", alludes to the alter egos Schumann frequently invoked during this period: opposing personas that profoundly influenced his work as both a music critic and a composer. This recording of the Symphonic etudes includes five posthumously published variations, with the finale drawn from Schumann's 1852 revised version.

Pier Paolo Scattolin's eclectic compositional style, which developed in parallel with his assiduous activity as a choir conductor, reaches an important stage in this discographic production with a sacred and spiritual character, in contrast to his last CD Suoni e rime sparse published in 2021 and centred on profane poetic inspiration. Indeed, it is all sacred themes (both historical and original) that form the backbone of these 5 meditations, which see the executive use of a great variety of instruments and ensembles, with the inclusion of timbral peculiarities provided by harmonic singing and Tibetan bells. The Euridice Choir of Bologna in it's various ensembles is once again the protagonist of the vocal parts, flanked by the Circe ensemble and exceptional soloists to whom the author dedicates first performances, both recordings and concerts.

Stratus is the stunning new quartet album from violinist Zach Brock and pianist Phil Markowitz, joined by Finnish jazz standouts Jaska Lukkarinen and Ville Herrala. Recorded in the peaceful setting of Sipoo, Finland, the album blends lyrical improvisation, intricate composition, and intuitive interplay into a cohesive, deeply expressive whole. From lush ballads to dynamic rhythmic journeys, Stratus showcases the quartet's chamber-like sensitivity and jazz-rooted spontaneity. Brock and Markowitz, building on their earlier collaboration Perpetuity, offer a seamless musical conversation elevated by a rhythm section that listens and leads in equal measure. A rich, genre-blurring project, Stratus is both intimate and expansive an exploration of sound grounded in trust, nuance, and shared vision.

Saxophonist-composer Chris Byars, praised as a modern master of ensemble writing and conceptual storytelling, delivers new album The Dark Forest—his fifteenth release on SteepleChase and perhaps his most introspective to date. Byars’ signature Original Jazz Sextet achieves remarkable harmonic and emotional depth through intricate voicings and counterpoint. Critics have celebrated Byars as a visionary of new bop vocabulary. His previous albums like Boptics and Rhythm and Blues of the 20s drew accolades for their smart, infectious writing and engaging solo showcases. “… he knows his musicians so well, Byars is masterful in his writing, blending the reeds and trombone in intricate ensembles while letting the soloists all shine throughout.” (Ken Dryden – New York City Jazz Record on SCCD 31929)

With this LP, IBA is beginning to release a new series of live concert recordings from the immense sound/video archive of Idil Biret from the 1950s to 2020. On the first LP, Schumann's Fantasie Op. 17 from the New York concert at Alice Tully Hall in 1972 and Liszt's Sonata in B minor from the Paris concert at Salle Gaveau in 1978 are included. These two performances of the works were significant milestones in Biret's concert career, opening up to her the stages of the Soviet Union and East Germany.

For over two decades, Matthew Schellhorn has championed the creativity of living composers through commissions and premières, bringing new music to a wider audience. This album draws together a selection of eclectic and captivating piano works united through shared interpretative insights and deep artistic connections.

Ilya Shmukler was the winner of the prestigios Geza Anda Competition in Zurich in 2024. On this album he presents a broad variety of composers and musical styles.

AMARe is a musical tribute to the sea, to love, and to the ever-shifting tides of inspiration between Brazil and Europe. The title blends a mare (the tide) and amar e (to love is), capturing the album's essence: movement, emotion, and surrender. Vocalist Celine Rudolph, pianist Henrique Gomide, and guitarist João Luis Nogueira come together in an intuitive dialogue where Brazilian rhythms and jazz improvisation meet in perfect flow. The trio moves seamlessly between original compositions and fresh interpretations of classics by João Donato, Gilberto Gil, Toninho Horta, and Candeia. Each track resonates with freedom and connection whether in the poetic depth of Itacimirim, the rhythmic interplay of Toca da Arara, or the quiet beauty of Preciso Me Encontrar. AMARe is not a reconstruction but an organically grown musical language where tradition and modernity converge. With guest appearances by Toninho Horta and Teco Cardoso, this is a contemporary ode to Brazilian music authentic, exploratory, and timeless.

Jeji pastorkyna (Her Stepdaughter; commonly known as Jenufa) is an opera in three acts by Leos Janacek to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play Jeji pastorkyna by Gabriela Preissova. Jenufa is based on a play by the Czech writer Gabriela Preissova´. Set a Moravian village, it follows the travails of two half-brothers, steva and Laca, and the woman with whom they are both in love, Jenufa. Jenufa loves steva in return, and is secretly pregnant with his child. But, after the jealous Laca slashes her face, steva abandons her, repelled by the disfigurement. Things only get worse for Jenufa in the second act. Laca, who now hopes to marry her instead, finds out about the child and is furious. In a desperate attempt to help, Jenufa's stepmother kills the baby - but tells them both it died naturally. Her plan appears to work and the pair agree to marry, but the child's body is discovered, forcing Jenufa's stepmother to confess. The opera ends with a remarkable reconciliatory duet between Laca and Jenufa. Here Janacek's music gleams, luminous and hopeful after such sustained darkness.

Nino Gvetadze: Some music stays with you for a lifetime not just in your memory, but in your hands, your ears, your way of feeling the world. For me, that music began in Tbilisi, Georgia, where I was born and raised, and where these sounds first took root. Recording this album felt less like performing and more like remembering. The music flowed naturally, as if something long held inside was finally f inding it's voice. It felt like writing a diary in sound one filled with affection, gratitude and quiet moments of awe. Melodies are warm, wit, poetic and melancholic.

Garreth Broke is a pianist, composer, writer, teacher and grief companion based in Frankfurt, Germany?. His music cuts through the noise of overwrought emotions and cheap platitudes. Garreth Broke's musical style blends elements of early Romanticism and contemporary minimalist piano music. His compositions are characterized by emotive melodies and intricate harmonies.