The album consists of five triptychs written for solo guitar in the 20th century by composers representing various areas of musical culture. The album opens with a work by Tansman, which references the compositions of Fr�d�ric Chopin. Rodrigo's composition strictly follows his characteristic musical language, based on stylizations of dances and motifs drawn from Spanish tradition. Torroba's suite is a tribute to the music of the Castilian region, an emotional, virtuosic work with playful elements. The miniatures by Henz, with their dreamlike, meditative character, bear the mark of the versatile German composer's personal style, whose musical language combines elements of expressionism, twelve-tone technique, neoclassicism, and tonality. The final work on the album is by Barrios Mangor�, the Paraguayan guitarist and most prominent composer of his country, whose piece borders between the sacred and the profane, containing elements of Baroque virtuosity. Andrzej Grygier is one of the most outstanding classical guitarists of his generation, a laureate of prestigious guitar competitions worldwide, and this album confirms his virtuosic skill and musical sensitivity.

Italia Mia by Ensemble Micrologus is not merely a collection of pieces but a musical journey that invites listeners to explore the vivid and diverse soundscape of Italy's past. Through their dedicated performance, Micrologus offers a window into the past, allowing modern audiences to experience the beauty and complexity of early Italian music. This live-recording stands as a testament to the enduring appeal of these works and the ensemble's commitment to preserving and celebrating the rich tapestry of Italy's musical heritage.

The Brussels court attracted some of the greatest composers and organists of the time at the beginning of the 17th century, including Peter Philips, Peeter Cornet, John Bull, and, a little later, Abraham Van den Kerckhoven, all of whom explored new ways of making organs sound. Flemish and Walloon organ builders throughout Europe, and in Spain and France in particular, were building instruments at that time that were to have a profound influence on organ building in those countries.

Spanish pianists Juan Lago and Bel�n Navarro present in this album a repertoire that has featured prominently in their concerts over the past decade: works by non-Spanish composers inspired by Spanish popular music. Thanks to the piano-a truly universal instrument-Debussy, Ravel, Chabrier, and Rimsky-Korsakov not only developed their early compositional voices, but also found a vehicle through which their orchestral masterpieces could be adapted and performed beyond the concert hall. Through their own arrangements or those by trusted collaborators, these works have reached intimate settings and private homes around the world. The keyboard's orchestral richness-especially in four-hand performance-and it's ability to imitate or evoke the timbral variety of an orchestra allow the Lago-Navarro Duo to showcase their artistry and technical command in a beloved and familiar repertoire, deeply ingrained in the collective musical memory of the Spanish people. In this album, Ib�ria, Rapsodie espagnole, Espa�a, and Capriccio espagnol are brought together in a fresh concert format, allowing the musical echoes of Spain to resound with renewed brilliance. Bel�n Navarro & Juan Lago Piano Duo The well-established Lago-Navarro piano duo-formed in 1997 by Spanish pianists Juan Lago and Bel�n Navarro-presents in this album a repertoire that has featured prominently in their concerts over the past decade: works by non-Spanish composers inspired by Spanish popular music.

A vibrant collection of chamber works spanning different periods of Alberto Ginastera's career, written for piano with strings or voice. Rooted in the rhythms and colors of traditional Argentine music yet infused with the bold spirit of cosmopolitan modernism, these pieces strike a compelling balance between heritage and innovation. Inspired by the lifelong passion of acclaimed Krak�w pianist Andrzej Pikul for Argentina's most celebrated composer, this album highlights the expressive range, technical brilliance, and imaginative power of Ginastera's music, offering each performer a chance to shine with virtuosity and creative flair.

IBS Classical presents a distinguished new release featuring violinist Valerie Steenken and pianist Ricardo Al� �lvarez, performing three major violin sonatas by Richard Strauss, Ottorino Respighi, and Manuel M. Ponce. Conceived as a journey across German, Italian, and Mexican traditions, the programme bridges late-Romantic lyricism and early-twentieth-century modern expressivity. Strauss's youthful Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 18, combines soaring melodic invention with symphonic breadth, while Respighi's Sonata in B minor unfolds as a grand, rhetorically charged architecture culminating in a majestic Passacaglia. Ponce's Sonata breve, written in Paris in 1930, distills neoclassical elegance and Mexican lyricism into a concise yet refined statement of style. In this recording, Valerie Steenken (Concertmaster of Spanish National Orchestra) and Ricardo Al� �lvarez (Professor at Reina Sof�a School) offer performances of exceptional unity and insight. Steenken's luminous tone, phrasing of great naturalness, and expressive precision find in �lvarez's pianism an ideal counterpart-sensitive, detailed, and dynamically sculpted. Their dialogue reveals a profound understanding of structure and sound, bringing each work's emotional core vividly to life. Through this project, IBS Classical reaffirms it's dedication to artistic excellence and to the renewal of essential chamber repertoire for violin and piano, presented here in a performance of rare coherence and expressive depth.

Movses Pogossian and his colleagues in the Armenian Music Project continue their tireless advocacy for the music of Armenia with this ambitious 4-CD collection, Stanzas in August. At the heart of the release are two sub-collections devoted entirely to the music of Ashot Zohrabyan and Koharik Gazarossian, two consequential composers who shaped Armenian music far beyond their own oeuvres. The other discs include lesser-known works by Aram Khachaturian, Tigran Mansurian, and Ghazaros Saryan, as well as premieres of piano miniatures by Artur Avanesov, and premieres by Vahram Sargsyan and Aram Hovhannisyan.

Abel Selaocoe, the innovative South African cellist, composer and vocalist, announces the release of his second album, Hymns of Bantu on Warner Classics on 21st February 2025. Abel follows the acclaimed release of his 2022 debut Where Is Home (Hae ke Kae) with a remarkable new body of work celebrating his South African heritage, and tracing his ancestral path that leads into his vast influences including Western classical repertoire.

Following on the acclaimed 'Where is Home' and 'Hymns of Bantu', two genre-defying albums, 'Four Spirits' is also drawn from Abel's South African roots and seeks to create a communal experience with the audience through cello concerto, percussion, singing & improvisation. His first solo cello concerto and, formally speaking, a concerto cast in four movements - each movement takes an essential aspect of township life: ancestors, children, faith and community. Selaocoe positions himself as chief storyteller, combining cello improvising with lyrics in the Southern Sotho and Zulu languages.

Vinyl LP pressing. South African cellist Abel Selaocoe makes his debut on Warner Classics with Where is Home (Hae Ke Kae). It's dual title, in English and Sesotho, reflects the album's diverse program which draws from vibrant European and African influences: pieces inspired by South African and Tanzanian musical tradition share a space with works by J.S. Bach and Giovanni Benedetto Platti, some of which are renewed with instrumental and lyrical improvisations. The title of the album holds multifaceted significance for the Manchester-based musician: "Home is the place that empowers you; it's not only a geographical place but in people as well, where you can live a life of empowerment and not of oppression. I've learned to find my different homes through the cello." Abel Selaocoe represents Africa on the move.

Abel Selaocoe, the innovative South African cellist, composer and vocalist, announces the release of his second album, Hymns of Bantu on Warner Classics on 21st February 2025. Abel follows the acclaimed release of his 2022 debut Where Is Home (Hae ke Kae) with a remarkable new body of work celebrating his South African heritage, and tracing his ancestral path that leads into his vast influences including Western classical repertoire.

Fatma Said's third album, Lieder, is a very personal tribute to the art of German Song. Singing lieder has a central place in Fatma's musical life, it is a world of unique expression for her, listen to e.g. der Zwerg and it becomes crystal clear. Lieder is also a great collaborative project. Fatma recorded with the outstanding clarinettist Sabine Meyer, Anneleen Lenaerts on the harp, with our recently signed and critically acclaimed baritone Huw Montague Rendall, and many, many more

Fatma Said's third album, Lieder, is a very personal tribute to the art of German Song. Singing lieder has a central place in Fatma's musical life, it is a world of unique expression for her, listen to e.g. der Zwerg and it becomes crystal clear. Lieder is also a great collaborative project. Fatma recorded with the outstanding clarinettist Sabine Meyer, Anneleen Lenaerts on the harp, with our recently signed and critically acclaimed baritone Huw Montague Rendall, and many, many more

KALEIDOSCOPE

Christina Pluhar collaborates with star countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and her ensemble L'Arpeggiata for a great program of French Baroque music: de Vis�e, Antoine Boesset, Etienne Moulin�, Michel Lambert, and many more.

Winter - from First Frost to Carnival Festivity A sparkling musical panorama of winter - harking back to the legendary Great Frost of 1708/09. From the beginning of the season over Christmas to a festive carnival: songs, opera scenes, instrumental as well as traditional pieces from France, Germany, and Great Britain. Music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Michael Praetorius, William Byrd, among others.

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) was an Argentine composer and bandoneon virtuoso who revolutionized the traditional tango by infusing it with elements of jazz, classical music, and modern harmonies. His work transformed tango from a dance genre rooted in Buenos Aires' popular culture into a sophisticated art form suitable for the concert hall. Central to this transformation were his bandoneon concertos, which showcased the expressive possibilities of the instrument and blurred the boundaries between popular and classical traditions. The bandoneon, a type of button accordion originally developed in Germany, became the soulful voice of Argentine tango. Piazzolla mastered it's complex mechanics and extended it's expressive range far beyond it's traditional role. Aconcagua: Concerto for Bandoneon and Orchestra (1980) represents the peak of Piazzolla's orchestral writing. Named after the highest mountain in the Andes, it symbolizes artistic ascent and ambition. This concerto highlights the instrument's dual nature-melancholic yet rhythmic, intimate yet dramatic. In this concerto, Piazzolla combines lush textures, driving rhythms, and virtuosic passages to create a dialogue between the bandoneon and orchestra that is both lyrical and dynamic. Also included on this disc are the Tres Tangos for orchestra and the immensely popular Oblivion, known from Marco Bellocchio's film Enrico IV. Played by Klaudiusz Baran, one of the leading bandoneon players of his country, and the Czestochowa Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Adam Klocek.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2022 album from Egyptian soprano Fatma Said. Joined by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo under Sascha Goetzel, the vision string quartet and more, Said sings numbers like I Could Have Danced All Night from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady and Irving Berlin's Cheek to Cheek alongside opera hits like Meine Lippen sie Kussen so heiss from Franz L�har's Giuditta.

Incognito album for sale by Spyro Gyra was released Jun 07, 1994 on the Amherst label. Recorded at Secret Sound Studio, New York. Personnel: Steve Love (guitar, electric guitar); Chet Catallo, Hiram Bullock, John Tropea (guitar); Peter Dimitriades, Matthew Raimondi, Harry Lookofsky (violin); Guy Lumia (viola); Jonathan Abramowitz, Jesse Levy (cello); Frederick Buldrini, Marvin Morgenstern, Lewis Eley, Richard Young, Regis Iandiorio, Harold Kohon (strings); Larry Williams, Tom Scott (flute, saxophone); Toots Thielemans (harmonica, synthesizer); Jay Beckenstein (saxophone, percussion); Gary Grant, Jerry Hey (trumpet, flugelhorn); William Frank Bill Reichenbach Jr. Incognito CD music contains a single disc with 8 songs.

Maxim Emelyanychev's affinity with Mozart is well known, especially when it comes to piano works. In 2018, the conductor and keyboardist treated us to a recording that not only displayed his virtuosity and musicianship, but also revealed his remarkably close understanding of the composer's music. Today, the symphonies are the focus of his first long-term project with Il Pomo d'Oro, an ensemble he has been working with as it's conductor since 2013. As he points out, this project, aiming eventually to provide a complete set of the Mozart symphonies, is unlike anything he has recorded with the ensemble hitherto on period instruments. The approach here is original: each volume will feature an early symphony by Mozart, together with one of his great mature symphonies, which will enable the listener to perceive his many facets, revealed in the course of his development. Each volume will also include a bonus work, featuring a special guest. Inaugurating the series, Maxim Emelyanychev himself provides the hors d'�uvre with Concerto o.23 K.488, played on a fortepiano, before going on to conduct Mozart's Symphonies Nos.1 and 41.

Carnaval album for sale by Spyro Gyra was released Jun 07, 1994 on the Amherst label. All songs written by members of Spyro Gyra. Carnaval songs Live Recording Recorded at Secret Sound Studio and Power Station, New York. Carnaval album for sale Producers: Jay Beckenstein, Richard Calandra (tracks 1-8). Carnaval CD music Engineers: Michael Barry, Jack Malken, Neil Dorfsman. Personnel: Hiram Bullock, John Tropea (guitar, electric guitar); Chet Catallo, Rick Strauss (guitar); Harold Kohon, Matthew Raimondi, Richard Sortomme (violin, strings); Peter Simitriades, Sanford Allen, Harry Lookofsky (violin); Lamar Alsop, Guy Lumia (viola, strings); Jonathan Abramowitz (cello, strings); David Darling, Jesse Levy (cello); Jay Levy, Allen W.

Spyro Gyra, a jazz fusion band from Buffalo, NY formed in 1974 and created the framework for contemporary jazz in the 80s and 90s. Celebrating this milestone 50th anniversary of the band's formation, comes Jubilee, a new collection featuring 16 songs that capture the band's ever-expanding palette in it's first decade of recording (1978-87) and includes fan favorites "Shaker Song", "Morning Dance" which have had chart success in multiple countries plus tracks the band continues to perform across the globe. The new LP and CD contains never before seen photos from the band's early days and more recent world tours, liner notes from veteran music journalist Jonathan Widran and a newly recorded song, "50/50" - a riff on the title of the band's 1997 release 20/20, which marked 20 years and 20 albums.

Alternating Currents album for sale by Spyro Gyra was released Jun 07, 1994 on the Amherst label. Featured is great songwriting and playing, and nice work by keyboardist Tom Schuman. Alternating Currents songs - Paul Kohler Live Recording Recorded at Bear Tracks Recording Studio, Suffern, New York. Alternating Currents album for sale Personnel: Julio Fernandez (guitar); Jay Beckenstein (saxophone, lyricon); Tom Schuman (keyboards); Dave Samuels (vibraphone, marimba); Richie Morales (drums); Gerardo Velez (percussion). Recording information: Bear Tracks Recording Studio, Suffern, NY (1985). Photographer: William Coupon.

Well established in the field of historically informed performance, the Italian ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro has recently expanded: it now includes a choir, and this is it's first solo recording. Conducted by Giuseppe Maletto, the ensemble presents here Gesualdo's fascinating first book of Sacr� Cantiones. Less well known than his madrigals, the nineteen five-part motets that make up this work explore the theme of repentance through the Liturgy of Penance and the figure of the Virgin Mary. The painfully voluptuous chromaticism and the expressive intensity and refinement of the lines make this work one of the most singular of that period. Gesualdo's interpretation of the liturgical text is intensely dramatic and highly personal. Il Pomo d'Oro renders perfectly the mysterious beauty of this music.

Morning Dance album for sale by Spyro Gyra was released Jun 07, 1994 on the Amherst label. Live Recording Personnel: Gordon Grody, Diva Gray, Lani Groves (vocals); John Tropea (guitar, electric guitar); Chet Catallo, Rick Strauss (guitar); Charles Libove, Matthew Raimondi, Harry Cykman, Harry Lookofsky (violin); Alfred Brown (viola); Charles McCracken (cello); Lew Del Gatto (flute); Jay Beckenstein (saxophone, alto saxophone, percussion); Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet); John Clark (French horn); Tom Bones Malone (trombone); Tom Schuman (piano, electric piano, keyboards); Jeremy Wall (electric piano, keyboards, percussion); Suzanne Ciani (synthesizer); Dave Samuels (marimba, steel drum); Steve Jordan, Eli Konikoff, Ted Reinhardt (drums); Gerardo Velez (congas, bongos, percussion); Rubens Bassini (congas, percussion); Larry Fast (programming).

Access All Areas album for sale by Spyro Gyra was released Jun 07, 1994 on the Amherst label. All songs written or co-written by members of Spyro Gyro except Islands In The Sky (Jeremy Wall). Access All Areas songs An excellent live double album, it includes live versions of songs from early albums. Access All Areas album for sale - Paul Kohler Recorded live in Florida from November 17-19, 1983. Personnel: Chet Catallo (guitar); Jay Beckenstein (saxophone, percussion); Jeremy Wall (keyboards, percussion); Tom Schuman (keyboards); Dave Samuels (vibraphone, marimba); Eli Konikoff (drums); Gerardo Velez (percussion). Access All Areas CD music contains a single disc with 10 songs.

POESIA

Perhaps no contemporary pianist blends Latin and Jazz vocabulary with the deftness and fluency of Ed Simon, who demonstrates the point on his second Criss Cross outing. Bassist Avishai Cohen and drummer Adam Cruz, both equally versed in the art of telling stories in swing and clave, join Simon on a program of six originals and a standard "You're My Everything." Guitarist Adam Rogers, himself a Criss Cross artist, and vocalist Luciana Souza augment the trio on the tune "Unknown Path."

Original, striking jazz from trombonist in a sextet setting, feat. Walt Weiskopf, Stefon Harris, Bill Charlap, Peter Washington & Billy Drummond.

It would be fellow Criss Cross associate Walt Weiskopf who would bring Conrad Herwig into the label's fold back in 1992. The trombonist would then go on to record his own Criss Cross debut, Heart of Darkness (CRC 1155) in 1998. Now some 15 years into his tenure, Herwig has recorded eight remarkable and engagingly diverse albums with A Voice Through the Door being his latest breakthrough. Highlighting a distinguished composer, this inspired recital includes seven new Herwig originals along with a reworking of the standard All or Nothing At All. Then emphasis is on shared communication, an aspect that is clearly evident through Herwig's long track record with pianist Orrin Evans and drummer Donald Edwards. Adding something new to the mix, however, are new associations with tenor man Ralph Bowen and bassist Kenny Davis, thenselves frequent collaborators going back to their days with the band Out of the Blue.