To compose a few lines upon the fifth anniversary of the late Wolfgang Gluxam's decease is a task at once light and solemn. Light, for though the inevitable gloom of his too-early passing doth weigh heavy, it is Hope that doth prevail-that sentiment of a positive onwardness, which Music itself may impart, but only when artists of due skill are at work. Wolfgang's talent was singular: through his playing, he could spin tales, rousing in his auditors a tension for "What next?"-a suspense he deftly stoked to fervor. No note was struck without it's precise place in the chaos of the score defined, each tone a pillar in the storm. Some may deem this method contrived, a sign of some cold design-yet I affirm him, in the noblest sense, a genius both calculating and questioning, ever striving for perfection, yet tempered (with a grain of salt) by self-doubt. Though such rigor left certain long-forged schemes-as his endeavor with Bach's Art of Fugue-unrealized, we, in this age of vulgar mass-production, find solace in his scant recordings. These relics, though few, leave us quietly content, brimming with gratitude and joy. For such artistry cannot be reckoned by arithmetic, nor conjured by artificial engines; it demandeth a feeling soul, one that breathes and bleeds. Herein lies the power of Wolfgang's works: they compel us to love. That we may likewise rejoice in the album Brook Street is thanks owed to his descendants, who, in their benevolence, hath permitted it's release-a boon to all who cherish his memory.

Twenty years after their acclaimed trilogy, Eric Rasmussen and his long-standing quartet return with School of Tristano 4—a revelatory deep dive into the compositions and aesthetics of Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, and Warne Marsh, paired with striking originals. Drawing from decades of study, stage experience, and personal connection, Rasmussen’s quartet reinvents this rich, often-underrepresented repertoire with stunning clarity, warmth, and spontaneity. While the album brims with telepathic interplay and ensemble finesse, Rasmussen’s alto saxophone sings with a personal voice, never imitative, always rooted in the language of deep jazz tradition but reaching forward. Guitarist Nate Radley, bassist Dave Ambrosio, and drummer Mark Ferber bring unmatched sensitivity, groove, and lyrical depth. School of Tristano 4 offers both serious jazz heads and adventurous listeners a fresh insight into classic modernist repertoire—an album that resonates with the spirit of Tristano while speaking entirely in the quartet’s own voice.

Emanuel Gruber and Arnon Erez's classic account of Beethoven's music for cello and piano has been remastered for this 2-CD release. The Jerusalem Post called Gruber "one of our great artists" citing "his extraordinary capacity for projecting the deepest meaning of the music". Gruber was awarded the Pablo Casals prize by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Arnon Erez has been the head of the Chamber Music Department at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University for nearly two decades. With Emanuel Gruber, Erez has recorded the complete cello and piano Sonatas by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Brahms.

SOMM Recordings is delighted to build upon it's critically acclaimed discography with violinist, Adrian Butterfield, and the London Handel Players in a new collaboration featuring the Op. 7 set of six Violin Concertos by the French violinist-composer, Jean-Marie Leclair. The London Handel Players, praised by the New York Times for their "soulful depth" and "consummate skill and musicianship," have previously released five Handel discs with SOMM, along with recordings that celebrate Geminiani, J.S. Bach, and Telemann. The group's co-founder and director, period-instrument violinist Adrian Butterfield, has been described as "a marvel" by Gramophone for his recordings of Leclair's first three books of violin sonatas. The solo concerto emerged in Italy in the early 18th century through composers like Torelli, Albinoni and, particularly, Vivaldi. J.S. Bach acquired a copy of Vivaldi's popular set of twelve concertos, L'Estro Armonico, to transcribe and study, and he put his own stamp on concerto writing with works that are larger in scale, making use of more detailed contrapuntal development and a greater degree of harmonic variety. When Jean-Marie Leclair met an untimely death on 23 October, 1764 in a still-unsolved murder in Paris, he left behind a stellar reputation as the founder of the French violin school, along with a collection of works for violin that includes four volumes of solo violin sonatas and two volumes of violin concertos; his Op. 7, heard here, and Op. 10, to follow in the near future. These virtuosic and elegant violin concertos are something of an amalgam of the Italian concerto style and of Bach's formalistic innovations. Leclair was born in Lyon in 1697, and his dream was to become a solo violinist in his own country. But, at this time in France, violin playing was the province of country fiddlers and orchestral players, while the viol was the chosen instrument for the French upper classes. When the Italian violinist-composer, Arcangelo Corelli, published his iconic set of Op. 5 sonatas in 1700, no French violinist was equipped with the technique to perform them. Having spent a year studying dance and composition in the Italian city of Turin, Leclair moved to Paris, where he soon published his first set of twelve violin sonatas. For a couple of years, he commuted between Paris and Turin in order to study with a former student of Corelli's, and, over the course of two decades, published three more sets of sonatas, along with the two sets of violin concertos. The concertos are justly celebrated for their blend of French elegance and Italian virtuosity, reflecting not only Leclair's skill as a renowned violinist, but also his background, which drew on a variety of Europe's national styles. 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.

SOMM Recordings presents an intriguing pairing of chamber works that share the unusual and expressive instrumentation of piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass: Johann Nepomuk Hummel's 'Military' Quintet in C major and Franz Schubert's Piano Quintet in A major, his Trout Quintet. Extraordinarily, this is a first recording of Hummel's 'Military' Quintet.' It is an amazing find by the virtuoso double-bass player Leon Bosch, Artistic Director of the mixed-instrument chamber ensemble I Musicanti, with whom he performs here. They're joined by Peter Donohoe, laureate of the Tchaikovsky Competition and acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time. Johann Nepomuk Hummel's gift as a composer was matched by his excellence as a pianist. A child prodigy, Hummel was taught and housed by Mozart for two years, and he studied further with Clementi, Haydn, Albrechtsberger, and Salieri. Hummel's mastery as a pianist and his compositional personality, admired by Liszt, shine through in his two piano septets featuring winds, brass, and strings, which he also arranged for a combination not uncommon at the time of piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. It was in October 1829, nearly a year after Schubert's death, that Hummel completed his 'Military' Piano Septet No. 2. For publication in Vienna the following year, he also prepared a piano quintet version, again arranged for that ensemble of piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. The Septet's scoring-for piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello, and double bass- already included four of the five of those instruments, so in effect the alternate version redistributes the wind and brass parts among four strings with added viola. It is this version that receives it's premiere recording on this release. Franz Schubert's Trout Quintet came about during a walking holiday in the Alps in 1819, when he made the acquaintance of Sylvester Paumgartner, an amateur cellist who promoted chamber concerts in his home. He greatly admired Schubert's lied, Die Forelle ("The Trout"), and he commissioned a set of variations based on the song's melody. At the time, Paumgartner had brought together a group of musicians to perform Hummel's Piano Quintet in E flat minor-the arrangement Hummel made of his first piano septet-and suggested that Schubert write his new variations for that same quintet ensemble of pianist, violinist, violist, cellist, and double bass player. Schubert being Schubert, he not only composed a set of five variations on Die Forelle, but he created a five-movement quintet that featured the variations as the fourth movement of a work that has become one of the most renowned and beloved in the chamber repertoire. It is Schubert's first mature chamber work. He was twenty-two years old.

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.

Louis Lortie's programme for this eighth and final volume of Chopin spans the composer's entire career, from the teenage Rondo, Op. 1 through to his final published piece, the Cello Sonata, Op. 65. Inspired by a visit to the estate of Prince Antoni Radziwill in 1829, the Introduction and Polonaise brillante, Op. 3 was written for the prince (a keen cellist) and his pianist daughter Wanda, and was published in 1831 in Vienna, shortly before Chopin's move to Paris. Variations brillantes, Op. 12 was based on the theme 'Je vends des Scapulaires' from the (now long-forgotten) opera Ludovic. Single-handedly responsible for establishing the popularity of the mazurka, Chopin wrote almost sixty of these works in his lifetime. The two sets here date from 1842 (Op. 50) and 1844 (Op. 56) whilst the composer was at the height of his powers - and popularity in the salons of Paris. Chopin struggled with the composition of the Cello Sonata, taking two years, from 1845 to 1847, before finally premiering it at his last public concert, in Paris, on 16 February 1848. He was striving to find a 'new style' in his composition, whilst at the same time struggling under failing health and the breakdown of his long-standing relationship with the novelist George Sand. His perseverance paid off, and the sonata remains a cornerstone of the repertoire.

Delos is thrilled to announce a new collaboration with GRAMMY® Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer. Famed for it's "accuracy of intonation, purity of blend, of color and swagger of style" (Boston Globe), the group makes it's label debut with Joy to the World. This new Christmas collection blends tradition with innovation, combining Renaissance motets and fresh arrangements of classic carols with contemporary compositions, including two new commissions from Joanna Marsh. Showcasing the ensemble's extraordinary ability to move seamlessly and expertly between styles, Chanticleer's first Delos release conjures a wintertime world of magic, light, and wonder.

Like Chopin before him, and even more closely Scriabin, Rachmaninoff yielded to the temptation of writing his 24 Preludes, assembling this emblematic number in three stages. It began with a youthful work: the famous Prelude in C-sharp minor. From this root, music deeply anchored in Russian soil, imbued with the Slavic soul to which the composer, later exiled, would remain forever attached, there would spring, a decade later, the Opus 23 set, followed seven years on by Opus 32. These Preludes are like images in an album that Jean-Baptiste Fonlupt invites us to leaf through, sonic paintings whose authentic colours of memory he poetically restores. Far from his native land, which he left for good, Rachmaninoff would never write this way again.

Johann Sebastian Bach, though largely unaffected by the trends of his time, reimagined many older forms with striking originality, shaping the course of Western music. Among his innovations is the sonata for a melodic instrument (such as the viola da gamba) and obbligato harpsichord, where both parts engage in equal dialogue-a model later expanded by his sons and composers like Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Following their acclaimed first album dedicated to Corelli's Sonatas Op. 5, Teodoro Bau and Andrea Buccarella now present their second duo recording: the Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord by J.S. Bach, each revealing a unique stylistic approach within a unified form.

Electrifying debut album from a bold new voice in classical piano. British pianist Ophelia Gordon makes a striking debut with this album of works by Nikolai Kapustin, the Soviet composer whose music fuses the harmonic language and rhythmic drive of jazz with the formal precision of classical composition. Though Kapustin's music sounds improvised, every note is meticulously written - jazz in spirit, but classical in structure. Gordon brings rare authenticity to this repertoire, having tracked down long out-of-print vinyl recordings of Kapustin's own performances in a personal search for the composer's true voice. The programme is carefully curated to offer a compelling listening arc, capturing Kapustin's wit, lyricism, and fire with both intimacy and flair. Recorded on a characterful 1961 Steinway D, the album's sound is warm, immediate, and rich in detail - engineered with a microphone setup designed to balance the immediacy of a jazz trio with the depth and clarity of classical solo piano. This release marks two milestones: the first full Kapustin album by a British female pianist, and the first classical album by a BRIT School alum. With a growing reputation for fearless artistry and cross-genre fluency, Gordon offers a vital new perspective on one of the most original piano voices of the 20th century.

Bridging Tradition and Innovation: This album redefines lute music by blending the instrument's rich historical sound with electronic textures. A Fusion of Acoustic and Electronic: Bergmuller merges the lute's intricate, classical tones with subtle electronic layers?. For both contemporary and classical music audiences.

Compositional shadow play, philosophical unfolding: the piano etudes by Pascal Dusapin are far more than technical studies for aspiring pianists. Pianist Wataru Hisasue now releases a GENUIN album with works by Dusapin. Hisasue was not only successful at the 2025 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels but also received a special award at the ARD Music Competition for his interpretation of Dusapin's "Did it again", which he now presents here as a world premiere recording. The young pianist devotes himself to the oscillating, almost magical sonic ramifications of the French composer at the highest technical and tonal level. A must-hear!

This anthology of sacred works - all of which could be used in the liturgies of the Christmas festivities - features some of the leading musicians active in Venice in the 16th and 17th centuries. They range from the earliest, Andrea Gabrieli, who died in 1585, to the most recent, Francesco Cavalli, who died almost a century later, in 1676. At the centre of this broad chronological span we encounter not only veritable giants like Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi, but also prominent musicians connected to them, such as the Saxon composer Heinrich Schu¨tz, Giovanni Bassano and Alessandro Grandi. After three successful albums on Arcana, Natale veneziano inaugurates a new series by Il Pomo d'Oro. This recording shines a spotlight on the choir of Il Pomo d'Oro, which has accompanied the orchestra's activities under the direction of specialist Giuseppe Maletto since 2021.

Toivo Kuula (1883-1918) is one of the many composers who died at a tragically young age - 34 in his case: he was hit by a bullet fired after a brawl at a victory celebration at the end of the Finnish Civil War. The immediacy of the music he wrote during his short life points to the immensity of the loss not only to Finnish culture but to music more generally - as this second album of two, presenting his entire output of songs for solo voice and piano, makes abundantly clear. The range of moods captured here is striking; the most passionate of these songs generate an operatic intensity in their short span, in a style that balances directness of expression and rich late-Romantic harmonies.

David Matthews and Peter Sheppard Skaerved have been collaborating on a series of works for violin and viola for many years now, with Matthews setting Sheppard Skaerved formidable technical challenges, and Sheppard Skaerved surprising Matthews by finding a way to overcome the difficulties in his path. Behind all the pyrotechnics, this partnership is generating one of the largest, and most musically rewarding, body of compositions for violin and viola by any living composer. Many of Matthews' pieces record his experience of nature or offer tributes to friends, with the works heard in this third volume also tracing a journey from darkness to light.

In his debut recital album, countertenor Hugh Cutting presents Refound with pianist Audrey Hyland. This programme revolves around songs that are the product of two roots, seen through two lenses. Cutting and Hyland build a recital celebrating rediscovery and reinterpretation, presenting songs that blend old and new in their construction, text, or context. It is a testament to the beauty of interpretation and revival. This theme unfolds in folk-inspired songs by Ravel and Vaughan Williams; ancient texts in Howells and Dvorak; an imagined past in Wolf and Hahn; emotional education in Beach, Rodrigo and Lama; Lehrer's parody; the recently rediscovered Mel Bonis; Piers Connor Kennedy's improvisation-adjacent Rough Rhymes (world premiere recording); and Jeremy Sams' new translation of Schubert's Abschied. Noted for his 'exceptional voice, lustrous and rounded' (The Times), Cutting is fast establishing a reputation for his narrative skill and vocal prowess. He cites Audrey Hyland, Head of Vocal and Opera at the Royal College of Music, as invaluable in his artistic development; Refound honours that relationship.

Sir Georg Solti was a frequent guest conductor with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Born in Hungary in 1912, he played a decisive role in rebuilding the Bavarian National Theatre after the war. From the 1960s onwards, he was considered one of the world's leading conductors alongside Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan. Georg Solti returned to Munich once more for a special concert on February 10, 1984, with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. Aged 71 and at the height of his career, he conducted excerpts from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. Works by these two Russian composers, as well as Bruckner and Mahler, suited him particularly well, as they sounded musically spirited and exceptionally transparent. Prokofiev's three-act ballet Romeo and Juliet was written in 1935 for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, but it's premiere did not take place until 1938, in Brno in the Czech Republic. At the special concert in Munich in 1984 with Georg Solti, fifteen numbers from the ballet music were performed in chronological order. Pyotr Tchaikovsky dedicated his Fourth Symphony - composed in 1877/78 at the same time as his opera Eugene Onegin - to his patron Nadezhda von Meck. Despite their lengthy correspondence, they never actually met. In a letter to her dated March 1878, Tchaikovsky outlined the feelings he had experienced while composing his Fourth Symphony, though no specific programme can be discerned from them.

L'Appel du Cor / The Call of the Horn (Works for Horn and Piano) - Beyond Stereotypes. The stereotype of the French is well known, it is a man with a beret on his head and a baguette under his arm. The stereotypical image of the horn is the hunting horn, the only vision that the general public has of an instrument that they hear nearly every day but that they know so little. So why does horn player Herve Joulain title his new CD "L'Appel du Cor" (The Call of the Horn), why go into the field of cliche? First of all, the hunting horn is part of the history of the horn and it does not deny it. Then composers made this past, these origins, a source of musical inspiration. Whether rustic, thunderous, or poetic, they have made the softened, the 'tayaute', also the 'debuche de la plaine' and the famous 'halali' the material of their musical writing for the modern horn. Some of the pieces performed by Herve Joulain could be wrongly described as minor works, specific to the 'conservatory end-of-year competitions'. Here the horn player's playing shows us that they are far from it and deserve to be played and listened to. Thus, from Busser to Bozza, from Pugno to Planel, Herve Joulain's horn takes us on a journey among dreams and lullabies, legends and whims, right up to the feminine vision that composer Elsa Barraine has for the horn in her brass band. The horn player Herve Joulain and the pianist Fanny Azzuro interpret these works - some of which can be heard as premiere recordings - in a wonderfully musical way. - - - L'Appel du Cor (Werke fur Horn und Klavier) - Jenseits von Stereotypen. Das Klischee uber die Franzosen ist allseits bekannt - ein Mann mit Baskenmutze auf dem Kopf und einem Baguette unter dem Arm. Das stereotype Bild des Horns ist das des Jagdhorns - die einzige Vorstellung, die die breite offentlichkeit von einem Instrument hat welches sie beinahe taglich hort, das sie aber doch so wenig kennt. Warum also betitelt der Hornist Herve Joulain seine neue CD "L'Appel du Cor" (Der Ruf des Horns), warum begibt er sich ins Feld der Klischees? Zunachst einmal ist das Jagdhorn Teil der Geschichte der Horner ansich, und dies soll auch keinsfalls verleugnet werden. Dann gestalteten die Komponisten genau diese Vergangenheit, diese Ursprunge zu einer neuen Quelle musikalischer Inspiration. Ob rustikal, donnernd oder poetisch, sie haben das Weiche, das "Tayaute", auch das "Debuche de la plaine" und das beruhmte "Halali" zum Material ihrer musikalischen Komposition fur das moderne Horn gemacht. Einige der von Herve Joulain aufgefuhrten Stucke konnten falschlicherweise als "kleinere" Werke bezeichnet werden, die spezifisch fur Vorspielabende an Musikschulen zum Jahresende sind. Hier zeigt uns das Spiel des Hornisten, dass diese Musik weit davon entfernt ist und es verdient, gespielt und gehort zu werden. So nimmt uns das Horn mit den Komponisten von Busser bis Bozza, von Pugno bis Planel mit auf eine Reise zwischen Traumen und Schlafliedern, Legenden und Launen, bis hin zu der "weiblichen Vision", die die Komponistin Elsa Barraine fur das Horn in ihrer Blaskapelle hat. Der Hornist Herve Joulain und die Pianistin Fanny Azzuro interpretieren diese - teils als Ersteinspielungen zu horenden Werke - in wunderbar musikalischer Art und Weise.

The Simply Mozart adventure, dedicated to his last three symphonies, comes to an end with this third volume and the 39th symphony. The programme also includes the overture to Cosi fan tutte ("a statement of the opera in miniature", according to Julien Chauvin) and the Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola. Composed one year after Mozart's second trip to Paris, the Sinfonia concertante was directly inspired by the Parisian practice of having several soloists enter into dialogue with the orchestra; this was very much in vogue at the end of the 18th century. "Mozart left his mark on us and on our hearts with it's second movement, one of the most poignant that he was ever to write," says Julien Chauvin; here his violin dialogues happily with the viola of Amihai Grosz, who has already made two recordings for Alpha Classics (ALPHA634 & 1013).

In the realm of music, where creativity knows no bounds, composer Kaan Bulak and trumpeter Simon Hofele join forces to unveil a mesmerizing sonic tapestry in their latest collaborative album, No Clouds in Haraz. " This musical odyssey is not merely an assortment of tracks but a profound homage to faraway places and a shared love for the simple yet profound pleasure of coffee. As the needle drops onto the vinyl or the digital waves fill the air, listeners are transported to distant worlds, guided by the evocative melodies and innovative compositions of Bulak. The album's title, a nod to the majestic mountains of Haraz in Yemen, sets the stage for a journey that goes beyond geographical boundaries. At the heart of this musical endeavor is a celebration of diversity-both in landscapes and musical influences. The harmonious blend of trumpet, synths, beats, and experimental sounds creates a sonic landscape that mirrors the intricate tapestry of our global cultural heritage. Each note resonates with the essence of places unseen, inviting the audience to experience a rich tapestry of sound. The trumpet takes center stage, it's resonant tones weaving seamlessly with electronic enchantments, giving rise to a sound that is both timeless and contemporary. The result is a musical fusion that not only captivates the soul but also paints a vivid picture of the evolving nature of our interconnected world. Bulak and Hofele's collaboration goes beyond the conventional boundaries of genre, offering a view of the world that is both respectful and modern. The music becomes a bridge that connects distant landscapes and shared passions, mirroring the ever-changing clouds on the horizon. "No Clouds in Haraz" is a celebration of artistic collaboration and a testament to the boundless possibilities that arise when diverse influences converge. As you embark on this extraordinary musical journey, let the notes guide you through landscapes unknown, and savor the richness of a cultural mosaic brought to life through the universal language of music. In every melody and beat, discover the magic of a world where there are truly "No Clouds in Haraz.

The music of multi-award-winning composer Vincent Ho has been described by The New York Times as 'brilliant and compelling', not least for his music's beauty and expressive breadth. Ho wrote The Twelve Chinese Zodiac Animals as a gift for his eight-year-old daughter, to enrich her musical education as she learned the piano and to introduce her to Chinese cultural themes and performance practices in pianistic form. The cycle presents the musical spirits of the animals with captivating musical caricatures in two books, the second of which is a selection of preludes and fugues for more advanced players. They are performed by Tony Yike Yang, one of Canada's finest young pianists and the youngest laureate in the history of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

With a shared history spanning decades and a sound rooted in both the jazz tradition and the Nordic spirit, the Danish jazz trio Sophisticated Ladies - pianist Marie Louise Schmidt, bassist Helle Marstrand, and drummer Benita Haastrup - unveil their new album, That Healin' Feelin', due out on October 10 on Storyville Records. Formed in 1987 under the mentorship of American trombonist and vocalist Richard Boone (Count Basie Orchestra, Danish Radio Big Band), the trio have built a repertoire that seamlessly blends the roots of jazz with the nuances of Nordic expression. The album consists of 10 tracks with freshly interpreted standards, original compositions, and beloved pieces from the early days of the ensemble. The album opens with Les McCann's soulful title track, a nod to the group's formative years. It continues with Mary Lou Williams' J.B.'s Waltz and A Grand Night for Swinging, two foundational works from the group's early repertoire. Other highlights include takes on Duke Ellington's Going Up, Thelonious Monk's Bemsha Swing, and Abdullah Ibrahim's Blue Bolero, a trio of towering jazz voices who have left a lasting imprint on the group's sound. The record is enriched by original compositions: Svaner i Maj (Swans in May) by Marstrand, Gar pa Sol (Walk on Sun) by Haastrup, and Uden Ord (Without Words) by Schmidt. These pieces are deeply rooted in Danish song traditions and reflect the trio's Nordic musical language. Closing with the timeless What a Wonderful World, the album pays loving homage to Richard Boone, who for more than a decade toured and performed with Sophisticated Ladies. In his words, always spoken at the end of a concert: "What a Wonderful World, and then we go home, children." That Healin' Feelin' is a heartfelt continuation of a musical dialogue that began nearly 40 years ago, and a testament to the vitality and versatility of three musicians still listening deeply to each other and the world around them.

The Suddeutsche Zeitung calls soprano Henrike Legner a "promise" - and now she presents her debut album on the GENUIN label. In doing so, she offers us an extraordinary, Romantic lied repertoire whose small treasures never fail to astonish: selected lieder by Felix Mendelssohn, including the finest from his estate, are brought together on this album. Brilliantly accompanied by pianist Gerold Huber, Henrike Legner's clear and expressive voice sings us two dozen beautiful discoveries straight into the heart, with magical power!

This release captures the January 2025 concert from Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. Rapturously received by the capacity audience and acclaimed by the critics, the Halle's performance of this monumental work marks a significant milestone in Kahchun Wong's tenure as Principal Conductor. Thought of as being the composer's most ambitious search for the meaning of life, the Second Symphony is conceived and delivered on an epic scale, featuring soloists, choir and an enlarged orchestra. The music offers a directness of expression which transports the listener through a series of climaxes and reflections, culminating in a Last Judgement in which the composer said, 'an overwhelming love illuminates our being'. The release is accompanied by a personal introduction from Kahchun Wong, reflecting on what the music of Mahler means to him, and a programme note by Mahler expert, composer David Matthews.