Long overshadowed by her towering legacy as one of the 20th century's most influential music teachers, Nadia Boulanger's creative voice as a composer is rediscovered in La ville morte (The Dead City) - a haunting opera of passion, loss, and psychological intensity. Composed in collaboration with Raoul Pugno and based on a libretto by Gabriele D'Annunzio, the work was originally slated for it's world premiere in Paris in 1914, but the outbreak of World War I silenced it before it could be heard. More than a century later, this long-buried score rises from obscurity, where forgotten desires return to life against the backdrop of ancient ruins. Set in the crumbling city of Mycenae, the opera explores obsession, betrayal, and blurred boundaries, it's emotional landscape shaped by impressionistic orchestral textures and arioso-style intimacy reminiscent of both Debussy and Wagner. Here, Boulanger reveals a daring and expressive side that transcends her image as the stern guardian of musical tradition. This landmark recording marks the PENTATONE debut of soprano Melissa Harvey, mezzo-soprano Laurie Rubin, tenor Joshua Dennis, baritone Jorell Williams, the Talea Ensemble, and conductor Neal Goren. The orchestration-by Joseph Stillwell and Stephan Cwik under the supervision of David Conte-breathes new life into the long-silent score. A co-production between Catapult Opera and the Greek National Opera, La ville morte not only resurrects Boulanger's compositional brilliance but also secures her place in the modern operatic repertoire.

The three composers whose works appear on this album are interconnected: Ravel was a mentor to Lennox Berkeley, and Berkeley to Pounds. Le Tombeau de Couperin marks Ravel’s movement towards neoclassicism, its forms and style a re-invention of ones from the French baroque.

Originally written for solo piano, the movements of the suite were dedicated to friends whom Ravel had lost in the First World War. In 1919, he orchestrated four of the six movements (the version performed here). Berkeley met Ravel a number of times in the 1920s, working as an interpreter and tour-guide whilst Ravel was in London. Ravel advised him to study with Nadia Boulanger, which he did, between 1926 and 1932.

Commissioned by Sir Arthur Bliss for the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1942, the Divertimento initially received a mixed reception, but has since found many supporters (including Pounds). The critic Peter Dickinson felt it showed an ‘instinctive and unimpassioned creativeness associated with the French aesthetic, but by no means restricted to it’.

Adam Pounds studied privately with Berkeley in London during the late 1970s, and in his own music has perpetuated the firm commitment of the two earlier composers to clarity and accessibility in everything they wrote. His Third Symphony was written in 2021 and is a response to the national lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Pounds states that the piece captures the ‘sadness, humor, determination, and defiance’ which everyone faced at this time – not least musicians. Scored for relatively modest orchestral forces, the work is dedicated to Sinfonia of London and John Wilson who here give the work its world première recording.

Following an album dedicated to the forgotten Renaissance master Vicente Lusitano (Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Der Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik Quarterly Critic’s Choice), The Marian Consort makes an enthralling leap forward to the present day. True to its core mission of expanding the vocal repertoire, A Winged Woman showcases the ensemble’s commissions from a crop of the UK’s finest composers – including seven world premiere recordings – with music by Dani Howard, James MacMillan, Electra Perivolaris, Howard Skempton, Chloe Knibbs and others. The works challenge traditions and tropes in imaginative and refreshing ways, bringing together a rich array of musical styles and textual approaches. As Perivolaris’s titular work makes clear, this album puts centre stage the compelling work of some of today’s most exciting women composers.

The Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia was founded in 1965 by Anshel Brusilow, then concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Brusilow, who studied conducting and played under Pierre Monteux, George Szell and Eugene Ormandy, auditioned more than 1,000 musicians for the 36 full-time positions and conducted the ensemble from 1966 until 1968, when it was disbanded for want of adequate philanthropic support in the city for a second orchestra. But over the course of two-and-a-half 34-week seasons it had already performed more than 200 concerts and made six albums for RCA Victor.

Sony Classical is now issuing all these LP recordings by the Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia on CD for the first time. The original LP releases were praised by High Fidelity, which called the Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia “an orchestra of rare quality”. Reviewing its début release, Brahms’s D major Serenade, the US classical music magazine opined: “Brusilow could hardly have chosen a better work to show off the capabilities of his new orchestra – every first-chair woodwind and brass player has his chance to shine (and each does shine, brilliantly).” The Brahms was followed by a series of choice couplings: Tchaikovsky’s “Mozartiana” Suite with Arensky’s Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky (“Brusilow is thoroughly at home in this literature, and his players respond beautifully to his direction” – High Fidelity); symphonies by Haydn and Cherubini; a French programme of Ravel, Ibert and Françaix (“Perhaps a reflection of the Monteux influence … this record … carries true stylistic conviction in matters of phrasing, texture, and timbre” – High Fidelity); and Richard Strauss’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme as well as Hugo Wolf’s Italian Serenade.

The orchestra also premièred and recorded a new sacred choral work by Richard Yardumian, the Philadelphia-based composer championed by Eugene Ormandy. Come, Creator Spirit for mezzo-soprano, chorus (or congregation) and orchestra was the first mass setting by an established American composer in the English vernacular following the Vatican Council’s 1963 decision. The work was lauded for its integrity, spiritual fervor, and power to communicate the essence of devotion in all its nuances from praise to supplication.

Praised by BBC Music magazine for his 'lucid, velvety tenor and pop-star charisma', the Lebanese-American Karim Sulayman has garnered international attention as a sophisticated and versatile artist. He joins the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective for this album of works by Reynaldo Hahn. The founder members Tom Poster and Elena Urioste write: 'Kaleidoscope has championed many unjustly neglected composers, but in the case of Reynaldo Hahn the neglect seems particularly puzzling to us. His music is immediately approachable, soaringly beautiful, and speaks directly to the heart; audiences, on the rare occasions that they get to hear it, seem to adore it. His life story is fascinating, too: born in Caracas, to a Jewish-German father and a Catholic-Venezuelan mother of Spanish / Basque origin, the handsome and urbane Hahn charmed high-society Paris, enjoying great success as composer, conductor, singer, writer-lecturer, and music critic. The Piano Quintet had been on our programming wish list for some time: it was lauded as Hahn's greatest work at it's 1922 premiere, and the powerful intensity of it's first two movements in particular acts as a firm rejoinder to those who criticised Hahn as a lightweight salon composer. By the time he finished his Piano Quartet, in 1946, Hahn was a man out of place in the world; this is music which bears no trace of modernism, instead looking back nostalgically to Hahn's heyday in la belle epoque. A number of years ago, our dear friend Karim Sulayman joined Tom in several performances of a set of Hahn songs, and a shared love for the music led to a discussion about how beautifully some of the piano parts could work in chamber arrangements. Karim had first discovered Hahn through the touching recordings on which the composer simultaneously sings and plays his own songs; and we, in turn, have always been deeply touched by the direct channel which Karim seems to have to Hahn's heartfelt expressive world. For all of us, it has been a profound joy to put these new song arrangements down on disc for the first time.'

Chet Baker does what he does best; SINGS AND PLAYS. He was gracious enough to occasionally put down the trumpet to croon, his vocal ability as skillful as his trumpeting. Baker's effortless virtuosity transcended the bounds of jazz stardom, with both aficionados and mainstream audiences embracing him as the genre's coolest cat.

Duarte’s Partita was completed in 1974. It’s a substantial work in four movements, using all original material. As in the Variations on a Theme of Štepan Rak he adopts a four-note motif, which may be heard forwards, backwards, inverted and stretched. Variations on an Italian Folk Song Op. 139 was written in 2000. It draws on the second movement, “Canzona”, of Duarte’s prior Suite piemontese, which was based on a combination of two tunes: Il testamento dell’avvelenato and Re Gilardin. This gentle theme is characterised by simple movements of a step or a fourth. The six variations all begin with this stepwise movement but they quickly gain individual characters. Valse lyrique (2000) is one of the three short dances Duarte wrote late in his career. The second theme, clearly derived from the first, includes some hemiolas as well as combined harmonics and natural notes. The central section features the melody in the bass. Valse en rondeau was written in 1997 for the American guitarist David Starobin. Duarte stated: “I decided to make reference to my origin as a jazz musician and to my interest in early music (the Rondeau form) and to exercise my unshakeable belief in melody.” The origin of the Variations on a Theme of Štepan Rak Op. 100 is unique. In 1984, Rak was staying with Duarte when Vladimir Mikulka performed a lunchtime concert in London. At the end of the concert, Mikulka announced that he was going to perform an unusual encore – a theme, but without variations that had yet to be written. Afterwards he announced that Rak, Koshkin and Duarte should exchange themes with each other to create six new variation works, and he presented Duarte with Rak’s theme on a piece of manuscript paper. Andres Segovia, a supreme Anglophile, married his third wife in Gibraltar (“under the British flag, on Spanish soil”), and their son was born in London. Duarte’s 3 Songs without Words for Carlos Andres were a present to the happy couple. Danza eccentrica (2000) was dedicated to the Italian guitarist Domenico Lafasciano with the note, “Here is your dance. It may not be what you expected, but it’s what I’ve written – not another ‘cloned’ rumba, tango, waltz or whatever, but something with more individual character.” The unexpected aspects include dissonant harmonies, bass notes which move in ¾ against the treble in 6/8 and sections more reminiscent of a hurdy-gurdy. The Italian guitarist Angelo Gilardino wrote to Duarte about his Fantasia and Fugue on Torre Bermeja Op. 30: “…the melodic and rhythmic feeling is of the sort to easily produce the fascination of the public”. The Torre Bermeja in question is the piano piece by Isaac Albeniz, Op. 92 No. 12. Although it carries Op. 62 (1974) on its cover, the little Prelude en arpèges was written in 1954/5 and intended as the first movement of a Harp Suite Op. 18 that was never completed.

The library of Bologna's Conservatory of Music contains a wide set of books about music, which are almost exclusively manuscripts. The library once belonged to the nobleman Antonio Puccetti (1792-1841), a native of Cingoli, a small town in Macerata located in the Marche region. It is indeed an aristocratic music library made up of works which range from the end of the 18th to mid 19th centuries. The interesting aspect of these works consists in the fact that they make up the bibliography of a nobleman who was not a collector but rather an amateur musician. The scores represent important documents about Puccetti's family private music performances within their own four walls, the so-called hausmusik, more intimate, which was different from the brighter salonmusik genre. The recording of these vocal and instrumental scores - including composers of the caliber of Ferdinando Carulli and Giovanni Paisiello - is entrusted to the young talents of ArsEmble, continuing the historical research that began with the rediscovery of composer Mario Bianchelli from Rimini (Tactus, tc 660201).

John W. Duarte was born in Sheffield, England on 2 October 1919. He started playing the ukulele, but soon moved to the guitar at the age of 15. The advent of guitar phenomenon John Williams, whom Duarte taught for 18 months before the young musician’s entry into the Royal College of Music, London, gave the composer an opportunity to expand his chamber music oeuvre.

The Concertante Quartet Op.22, a substantial work in four movements. In 2021 the composer’s son, Christopher Duarte, discovered some folk songs arranged for guitar and small orchestra among his father’s manuscripts. There is no mention of these arrangements in his list of works and no correspondence relating to their creation, but from the composer’s handwriting these probably date from the mid-late 1950s and may have been written for John Williams to play with fellow RCM students.

Next Market Day, scored for piccolo, snare drum and strings, is an energetic rendering of an Irish love song which Duarte revisited several times. The Coolin of Rùm (or, The Rùm Cuillin), scored for flute, oboe and strings, is a tune from the Isle of Rùm, one of the small islands near the Isle of Skye in the Hebrides. Cuillin is the name for a range of mountains in this area and Duarte may have been alluding to the name of a previous owner of Rùm, Maclean of Duart.

Duarte began work on what became A Tudor Fancy in early 1967. Following A Tudor Fancy, a concerto in all but name. The Concierto alegre Op.101 (1986) is deliberately light in woodwind (2 flutes, one each of the rest), a trumpet, strings, but with a battery of percussion, including two vibraphones. As with A Tudor Fancy, the music proceeds in a variety of ‘conversations’, with the orchestration kept deliberately light when the guitars are playing.

12 years after his album entitled ‘Italian Virtuosi of the Chitarrone’ (BIS-1899), Jakob Lindberg returns to his magnificent theorbo, specially built for him by the luthier Michael Lowe, based on an instrument preserved in the Musée de la Musique in Paris.

One of the most spectacular instruments of the early baroque owing to its length and great number of strings, the theorbo was originally designed to accompany the voice but is also ideally suited to solo performance.

For this disc, Lindberg has chosen pieces by Robert de Visée, one of the great French masters of the lute, theorbo, and guitar repertoire and a favorite of Louis XIV. The recording features dances as well as character pieces, including a moving ‘Plainte’ in memory of his two deceased daughters. It also includes de Visée’s arrangements of compositions by Lully, Couperin, and Purcell as well as his own version of Les Folies d’Espagne, a very popular chord progression that inspired so many composers of his time.

Jakob Lindberg writes: ‘I can’t help but be seduced by the grace of the instrument’s lines, the resonance of its sonorities, and by the unmistakably French elegance of this remarkable composer.’

One of the most sought-after young chamber ensembles of it's type, Trio Gaspard is praised for it's unique and fresh approach to the score, one recent recording prompting The Times to conclude: "Kaleidoscopic textures and sprightly wit, wonderfully conveyed by Trio Gaspard... delightful listening." It was founded in 2010, it's members hailing from Germany, Greece, and the UK. They studied at the European Chamber Music Academy in Vienna. Haydn's music has been of central importance to their programming over the past fifteen years, and it is rare for them to perform a concert without one of his works. Trio Gaspard writes: "Over this series of recordings, we present Haydn's rich output for piano trio neither chronologically nor in the groups in which the works were first published. Instead, just like the preceding discs, Volume 5 is conceived as a programme of contrasting trios that can be heard in a single sitting. We also continue the series of contemporary works which we have commissioned to accompany our Haydn project and are delighted to present the world premi�re recording of Helena Winkelman's Threesome in a High-den."

Born in Sussex in 1877, Roger Quilter was a fellow-student of Percy Grainger, Cyril Scott, and H. Balfour Gardiner at the Hoch Conservatory, in Frankfurt, where he studied for almost five years under the guidance of the German professor of composition Iwan Knorr. He is best known for his contribution to English art song, having composed around 150 songs, many of which remain regular recital favourites. For this album, the tenor James Gilchrist and pianist Anna Tilbrook explore his output from early works such as 'Now sleeps the crimson petal' through to late examples such as 'The Ash Grove'. All of the songs are settings of English texts, with the exception of the Four Songs of Mirza Schaffy, which set German texts by Friedrich von Bodenstedt. The musicians have arranged their selection of twenty-seven songs into thematic groups - Shakespeare songs, songs about flowers, folksongs, songs of love etc. - which makes for a fascinating and rewarding programme.

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.

Fr�hling is also a project that decisively sheds light on the figure of Andr�s Isasi (1890-1940), one of the most singular and underrepresented composers of early 20th-century Spain. At the heart of the album, Goikoetxea and Fern�ndez Aguirre offer the world-premiere recording of the complete Lieder-Album op. 16, a cycle composed in Berlin in 1913 and virtually unknown until today. These fourteen songs reveal a cosmopolitan Isasi at a moment of full creative maturity, shaped by his Central European training with Engelbert Humperdinck and attuned to the late-Romantic and Jugendstil currents of his time. The cycle blends intimate lyricism, legendary evocations, decadent impulses, and a refined harmonic language of striking modernity. Works such as Ali Bey, Fr�hling, Die ungetreue Luise, or Vergiftet sind meine Lieder display a uniquely personal voice that bridges the German Lied tradition with Basque imagery and an advanced European sensibility that was unusual for it's time. Goikoetxea and Fern�ndez Aguirre stand out for their elegance, their textual insight, and their ability to convey the emotional universe-at times na�ve, at times shadowed, always intensely poetic-of a composer whose vocal output was long overdue for a first-rate artistic rediscovery. The programme is framed within a broader exploration of Heinrich Heine's profound impact on European music. The album is completed with lieder by Liszt, Grieg, Ives, Rubinstein, Boulanger, Backer-Gr�ndahl, MacDowell, Sgambatti, and Castelnuovo-Tedesco, composers who, like Isasi, were captivated by the emotional depth and symbolic power of the German poet.

Encounter brings together two towering works of contemporary chamber music that speak across cultures, histories, and inner worlds. Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind and Peteris Vasks' String Quartet No. 6 arise from profoundly different traditions-Jewish mysticism and Baltic spirituality-yet meet in a shared search for truth, memory, and transcendence. Both works are intensely personal, rooted in lived experience and belief, and animated by music's power to give voice to what lies beyond words: longing, suffering, hope, and illumination. In this recording, these worlds do not merely coexist; they listen to, reflect, and transform one another. Performed by the Arethusa Quartet with clarinetist Chen Halevi, Encounter is also a meeting of artistic journeys. Golijov's ecstatic, ritual-like score unfolds as a spiritual ascent through dreams, prayers, and blindness-understood as deeper inner vision-while Vasks' Sixth Quartet traces a life's arc from farewell and remembrance to a final, hushed encounter with transcendence, illuminated by echoes of Beethoven. Across both works, vulnerability and intensity are balanced by stillness and song, darkness by light. What emerges is an album that feels at once intimate and universal: an affirmation of shared humanity, and a reminder of music's enduring ability to connect past and present, earth and spirit, performer and listener. = Curiosa is conceived as a personal "cabinet of curiosities" by violinist Jorge Jim�nez, bringing together music that entered his life through years of travel, collaboration, and discovery. The album spans laments, dances, preludes, fugues, and songs from both renowned and anonymous sources, ranging from the Middle Ages to the Baroque and beyond. Each piece is selected for it's emotional depth, strangeness, and expressive power, forming a living repertoire shaped in rehearsals, late-night conversations, concerts, and recording sessions. Central to the project is Jim�nez's fascination with unaccompanied music and historical instruments, particularly the baroque violin and vielle, whose raw and earthy sound transports the listener into earlier sound worlds. Throughout Curiosa, Jim�nez weaves together personal heritage, musical memory, and imaginative storytelling. His own arrangements connect Bach, Dowland, Strozzi, Gaspar Sanz, and traditional tunes with vivid images. Joined by Joy Smith on early harps and Daniel Garay on historical percussion, and performing with his ensemble Tercia Realidad, Jim�nez blends historical insight with spontaneity and improvisation. The result is an album that feels both intimate and expansive-music passed "between hands, ears, and hearts," constantly transforming while remaining deeply rooted in shared curiosity and human connection. Jorge Jim�nez: "These pieces entered my life through the extraordinary musicians and ensembles I've been fortunate to work with across Europe. They form a living repertoire shaped in rehearsal rooms, late-night conversations, recording sessions, and concerts." = During the darkest of the lockdowns, I took my daughter to an open field near our home. In a time when the world felt shuttered and small, walking was our only escape from the suffocating stillness. As we reached the field, a sudden sensation washed over me-a quiet awakening. It wasn't just the spring breeze or the scent of the grass; it was a sudden reminder of what being alive meant. I felt I had been touched by Zephyr, the Greek god of the west wind, sparking a renewed wish to create and perform for the world once more. Liberte�: A piece exploring and searching for emotional freedom. Zephyr: Named after the gentle west wind, this track served as the primary source of inspiration for the entire album. Fushigi no Kuni: Translating to "Wonderland" in Japanese, this piece was inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland written by Lewis Carroll. A Troubadour in the Moonlight: A composition and improvisation depicting a minstrel serenading a loved one beneath the moon. For Misato: A heartfelt dedication to Misato-san, my dear friend who departed too young. The five songs above are composed by Yukari. Eurus, Suibokuga, Pandora's Box, Don't Follow the Piper, and Au cr�puscule are collective improvisations. = "We can imagine some eyebrows being raised at the description of Dora Pejacevic as a contemporary of Brahms; the two composers were born more than fifty years apart, and their lives only overlapped by twelve years. Yet both works by Pejacevic are unmistakably from the same compositional lineage as that by Brahms; and both are works written early on in Pejacevic's remarkable (and, sadly, all-too-short) life. Both pieces belong clearly to the romantic tradition, displaying no hint of the more modernist directions which her later works would take. We were immediately intoxicated by the passionate sweep of Pejacevic's Piano Quartet, but also the tenderness of it's slow movement, and felt it would make the perfect bedfellow for the First Piano Quartet of Brahms, a piece to which Tom has felt particularly close since student days. Brahms's Piano Quartet is justly one of the best-loved of all chamber works, and few works are more exhilarating to perform: the first movement offers an abundance of glorious themes; the second takes us to a mysterious dreamworld; the third luxuriates in expansive lyricism; then the fiery virtuosity of the gypsy finale sends us headlong to the finish line. This album brings us to the end of our recorded journey through Brahms's three piano quartets, and it has been the greatest privilege and joy to record these works, alongside three major piano quartets by composers who deserve to be far better known. However, we are pleased to say that the series does not end here: looking beyond the piano quartets, we have further albums in preparation, pairing Brahms with his brilliant and lesser-played contemporaries." -Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective

Rachmaninoff's output of chamber music is small but all the more precious for that. Two absolute gems bear witness to the fact: these ‘elegiac trios’, which were produced by a young composer still indisputably under the influence of Tchaikovsky. However, Rachmaninoff’s personality is already fully present, reaching heights of emotion and expressiveness.

The pieces by Suk and Grieg add a further touch of character to the picture, which is painted with an exceptionally rich palette: the artistry of the phenomenal Trio Wanderer.

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REVIEWS:

The Rachmaninov Trios share not only a sombre soundworld but a clarity of line that’s captured engagingly in these lyrical yet unsentimental performances by the Trio Wanderer. The Wanderers’ performance, a notch faster than many, has an urgency that is highly persuasive. Grieg’s dark and impassioned Andante con moto fits right in after all this, and the disc is rounded off with a sweetly understated Elegie by Suk. – BBC Music Magazine

The Trio Wanderer’s new disc, centred around Rachmaninov’s youthful trios, has all the finesse and subtlety that we’ve long associated with this French ensemble. From the start, though, one thing struck me – how curiously un-Russian these pieces sound in their hands. It’s partly due to their emphasis on clarity of texture, together with a certain Classical restraint.

– Gramophone

This set assembles for the first time the Beethoven legacy of the Trio Wanderer. The group's superb interpretation of the Triple Concerto is now presented alongside it's masterly recording of the composer's complete original works for piano trio, a genre inherited from Haydn and Mozart in which Beethoven opened out new horizon.

“...the pleasure its players derive is highly infectious. Long may it continue...” (Melody Maker) “...A splendid session....” (Billboard)

The success of the earlier release by this trio (SCCD 31122 “The Touch Of Your Lips”) brought the group together again this time for “live” recording at club Montmartre packed with Baker fans. Radio Free Jazz wrote, “ His present playing is extraordinary, the best of his career, and he has never found a more empathetic context than this trio with guitarist Raney and bassist Pedersen... The interplay among these three superb musicians yields a quality of collective improvisation comparable to that of Bill Evans’ greatest trio....”

Best-known for her classic 1955 Top 10 hit "Cry Me A River", Julie London was a fine sultry-voiced jazz and pop singer, who enjoyed her greatest popularity during the "cool" era of the late '50s and early '60s - Billboard magazine named her as the most popular female vocalist of 1955, '56 and '57. Although she sang as a child with her parents' vaudeville act on radio, the first decade of her career from 1945 was as a Hollywood movie actress, becoming a popular pin-up girl of GIs, and appearing with the likes of Gary Cooper. Beginning her recording career in 1955, she scored a hit with her first release for Liberty, "Cry Me A River", and over subsequent years released around twenty singles for the label, as well as having a regular output of concept albums, showcasing her smoky and sensuous vocal style with a mixture of sophisticated pop and mainstream jazz material. This great-value 58-track 2-CD collection comprises her debut recordings on an EP recorded for the Bethlehem label (the tracks were later released as singles by Liberty), and all her A and B sides for Liberty through to 1962, some of which came from her LP releases, plus selected tracks from the seventeen albums she released during those first important years of her recording career. As well as "Cry Me A River", it includes what was one of her best-known recordings, her vocal version of the jazz cha-cha "Desafinado (Slightly Out of Tune)" from 1962. "Cry Me A River" has been revived by many high-profile artists over the years. Julie London is an artist who has not received the accolades she deserved as a sophisticated jazz/pop singer to compare with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Peggy Lee, and this collection will help underline her distinctive talent.

Unanimously hailed by the critics ever since their release in 2000, these recordings offer a chance to follow Schubert's development in the field of the piano trio, from the youthful Sonatensatz (1812) to the immense masterpieces of his maturity. The Sunday Times wrote, "The Wanderers take us on an exhilarating emotional rollercoaster ride, with a wonderful sense of conversational repartee in the fast outer movements and rapt expressions of wonderment in Schubert's sublime, songful slow movements."

Schubert: Piano Sonatas D664 769a & 894 - Stephen Hough - The late G major sonata followed such landmarks as the 'Great' C major symphony and Schubert's last string quartet, and explores similarly expansive terrain; the A major is an earlier, genial work. These frame the brief D769a fragment, which adds to the uniqueness of Stephen Hough's marvellous recital.

The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs awarded a rosette to Stephen Hough’s earlier Gramophone Award-winning Hyperion recording of Mompou, and this successor is equally fine. Música callada comprises twenty-eight exquisite miniatures, brief in duration yet rich in allusion: music which makes its mark with subtlety, understatement and a unique economy of means.

REVIEW:

Hough is the ideal guide to the music of Mompou. He wholly inhabits the music’s mystical atmosphere, its holy simplicity. Exquisite sensitivity is matched by a steely strength. Sounds coalesce and insist on their presence, before disappearing into the ether. Austerity blends with warmth.

— BBC Music Magazine

Diana Krall - "The Look Of Love (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series)" / The Look of Love is a lush, cinematic collection of ballads and bossa nova tunes, produced by Tommy LiPuma, arranged and conducted by the legendary Claus Ogerman, and featuring the London Symphony Orchestra. Originally released in 2001, The Look of Love brings to mind such classic Frank Sinatra albums as In the Wee Small Hours and Only The Lonely - but the elegant piano solos, sensual vocals and wickedly modern sense of humor are, inimitably, all Diana Krall. Verve Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered on 180grAm vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging. [2 LP] Special Pkg:180gram Heavy

Polymath Sir Stephen Hough has a growing reputation as a composer of chamber, choral and above all solo piano music with four sonatas and a constellation of dazzling arrangements to his name. This album presents the premiere recording of his first piano concerto, recorded by the pianist with The Hall� under Sir Mark Elder. It's subtitle 'The world of yesterday' deliberately places the work in a broader context of the pianist-virtuosi of yesteryear who composed and performed their own piano concertos as they toured the world.

The late journalist/author Chris Sheridan’s liner notes for Sheila Jordan’s first album for SteepleChase “Sheila” SCCD 31081 declares, “This recording is an acutely personal statement. Only rarely in the history of jazz have a singer‘s feelings been so affectingly bared ... only a few vocalists have had the grit to subordinate technique and »style« to expressiveness ... And the experience is breathtaking.” Mr. Sheridan’s assertion from 1977 still rings true and even more so. Sheila Jordan at the age 92 does not show any sign of slowing down or taking it easy. Her intensely creative power is evident throughout this album presented in a cross-generational collaboration with trioTrio consisting of three young elite instrumentalists of the New York scene. “...a spiritual experience and heart-to-heart communion ... Jordan makes these tunes all her own, with personal, almost prayer-like readings...” (Down Beat - *****) “... Sheila Jordan personifies a song like no one has since Billie Holiday.” (Unicorn Times)

Dutch pianist and composer Joep Beving is a leading neo-classical artist, garnering fans worldwide with his warm, contemplative music, which is evident on his 2017 album, Prehension. Pressed on EcoRecord, a sustainable record made from PET instead of PVC and, thanks to an innovative production process, saves up to 85% energy compared to conventional vinyl production, without compromising on sound and product quality. 2-LP set.

Solipsism is the 2015 debut album by contemporary Dutch pianist and composer, Joep Beving. Inspired by the philosophical idea that reality only exists in one's mind, Beving composed these introspective and often filmic piano pieces and recorded them at home in the still of night. Rejecting the often over-produced and layered music styles of today, Beving keeps the music of Solipsism stripped back to it's essence: simple sounds to express complex emotions. Pressed on EcoRecord, a sustainable record made from PET instead of PVC and, thanks to an innovative production process, saves up to 85% energy compared to conventional vinyl production, without compromising on sound and product quality.

Ayant choisi de se referer � Ravel pour le nom de leur ensemble, il etait tout naturel que le compositeur francais figure au programme de leur premier enregistrement. Les musiciens du Trio Pantoum entendent bien, pour autant, ne pas s'enfermer dans une seule esthetique, mais se laisser guider par leur curiosite et explorer des repertoires aussi varies que contrastes. Ainsi, pour leurs debuts discographiques, temoignent-ils de multiples accents, associant leur partition fetiche � celles d'un romantique russe quelque peu oublie et de l'une des nouvelles figures de la musique tcheque.

Romantic guitar in the hands of a virtuoso of international renown absolutely guarantees extraordinary musical experiences. Milosz Maczynski tells the history of melancholy from the Renaissance to Romanticism, masterfully using time and melodious phrases. The album is full of hidden emotions, captivating with an atmosphere of intimacy and contemplation.