Following on the success of her acclaimed release, Donna Voce, award winning pianist Anna Shelest continues her exploration of works by women composer in Donna Voce Volume 2 - Women of Legend. Featured are Fanny Mendelssohn's monumental feat of imagination and virtuosity Das Jahr (The Year), Melanie "Mel" Bonis' suite of musical portraits Femmes de Legende (Women of Legend), and contemporary Ukrainian composer Olena Ilnytska's evocative Nocturne 1. Hailed by The New York Times as a pianist of a fiery sensibility and warm touch, Anna Shelest is an international award-winning pianist who has thrilled audiences throughout the world.

In this volume we discover how composers in England, Scotland, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries responded to the waves of jazz and syncopated dance music that had crossed the Atlantic and captivated European audiences. The album features a wide selection of famous and less well-known composers who each succeed in combining the authentic energising rhythms of foxtrots, tangos and shimmies with their own unique styles. Gottlieb Wallisch's seventh and final volume in this acclaimed series features many unknown gems and world premiere recordings. A digital EP of bonus tracks by Bliss, Schnitzler and Hijman (GP962DR) is also available for download and streaming.

Una poesia muta: Art in early Cinquecento Venice is the result of a collaboration between SWR radio, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and The Marian Consort. Specially curated by the Stuttgart museum, Germany's first ever exhibition devoted to Vittore Carpaccio and his contemporaries has inspired The Marian Consort to devise an album to accompany this artistic journey. Being one of the most prominent painters of the Early Renaissance in Venice, Carpaccio is likely to have been acquainted with the music and the composers recorded here, since all have strong links to the city at that time. If some of them are well-known today - Josquin, Jean Mouton, Adrian Willaert - others deserve wider recognition. The Marian Consort and it's director Rory McCleery have assembled a typically fascinating programme, matched with superb singing.

Le temps des lilas is an ode to Romanticism, a love song and a nostalgic reflection on the bittersweet beauty of lost happiness. Dedicated to the music of Ernest Chausson, this album oscillates between passion and melancholy, wonder and nostalgia. The Concert Op. 21, a masterly work on the borderline between chamber music and orchestra, is carried by Pierre Fouchenneret's magnetic violin and David Violi's colorful piano. I Giardini also deliver a previously unpublished version of Poeme Op. 25, reworked for violin, piano and string quartet. The album closes with Pauline Buet's equally sensitive retelling of Chausson and Barbara's 'Temps des/du lilas', using cello in the former and singing voice in the latter. Barbara's song and Chausson's melody stand as a simple, timeless tribute to the magic of past moments and the fragility of human existence. Le temps des lilas is I Giardini's first full-length album for PENTATONE, following an already rich discography: Nuits (which has been awarded the prestigious Diapason d'Or), Bleu, Shaw and Faure, an EP released with PENTATONE in 2024.

Pianist Olga Pashchenko creates musical narratives with selections from Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words. As children, the two immensely prodigious siblings enjoyed using text to inspire their piano pieces, although which of them was the actual inventor of the genre remains a mystery. It is possible that they either co-created this genre, or even that Fanny could have been the creator of the genre traditionally ascribed exclusively to Felix. This music, although wordless, is bursting with poetry and well-suited to the Conrad Graf piano from 1836 that Pashchenko chose for this recording. The Graf piano, a brand favoured by Felix, has a recitative-like quality that Pashchenko uses to perfectly articulate the poetry inherent in these Lieder ohne Worte or as Fanny called them, Lieder fur das Pianoforte.

Domenico Giuseppe Scarlatti (1685-1757) devoted himself to a single form like no other composer before him. The more than 550 mostly single-movement sonatas for the harpsichord influenced numerous composers throughout the ages, from his contemporary Johann Sebastian Bach and Frederic Chopin to 21st-century artists such as Georg Katzer. The four selected sonatas K 27, K 213, K 247 and K 268 represent only a small selection of his immensely varied oeuvre and yet they illuminate all the different aspects of his extraordinarily creative composing. Scarlatti himself modestly described many of his sonatas as "Essercizi per gravicembalo". His sonata works contain every conceivable technical challenge, as he himself was one of the most sought-after and virtuoso harpsichordists of his time. Georg Katzer (1935-2019) composed the Five Miniatures in 1971. They are primarily to be understood as gestural music. Although the playing technique is traditional with a few exceptions (the use of the elbows or rolling hands), the miniatures reveal a wealth of ideas in musical forms of expression that evoke the most diverse sensations in a short space of time and space. The work Due to my admiration for D.S. was composed by Georg Katzer in 2001. The close relationship between Fanny Hensel (1805-1847) and her brother Felix Mendelssohn encouraged both siblings throughout their musical careers. And yet, throughout her life, Fanny Hensel fought for even remotely similar recognition of her extraordinary talent as a pianist, conductor and composer. The Four Songs for Pianoforte, Opus 2, are among the few works published by Bote & Bock in 1846 during Fanny Hensel's lifetime.

This program, dedicated to the melodies of Ernest Chausson (1855-1899), celebrates the music of this worthy representative of the French mélodie style. Cyril ACHARD (guitar and adaptations) and Kevin Norwood (vocals), two musicians with diverse influences (jazz, classical, early music, etc.), share a predilection for musical expression in it's purest and most unadorned form. Their passion for the beautiful melodies and harmonic soaring characteristic of this bygone musical movement led them to pay tribute to the most enigmatic and misunderstood of all "melodists." As jazz musicians who practice improvisation and readily engage in reinterpretation, they find this program an ideal playground. The unique character of this duo is based on a work of adaptation, even "reinvention" in places, interspersed with improvised sections, allowing the listener to oscillate between two musical universes. Nostalgie du Ciel offers a unique take on the composer's melodies through this original arrangement for guitar and vocals. The album, recorded in an Alpine church, strives to recreate the natural acoustics of the setting, allowing the listener to perceive the sound as it was generated at the source.

IBS Classical presents a distinguished new release featuring violinist Valerie Steenken and pianist Ricardo Alí Álvarez, 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 Alí Álvarez (Professor at Reina Sofía School) offer performances of exceptional unity and insight. Steenken's luminous tone, phrasing of great naturalness, and expressive precision find in Álvarez'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.

“...Betty Carter and Sheila Jordan are probably the only real jazz singers in the world today... Jordan creates an entirely personal atmosphere...” (Melody Maker) “... Sheila Jordan personifies a song like no one has since Billie Holiday.” (Unicorn Times) “...Her talent is unquestionable.” (Billboard) “...a spiritual experience and heart-to-heart communion....Jordan makes these tunes all her own, with personal, almost prayer-like readings...” (Down Beat - *****)

“...outstanding among [Chet’s] later recordings....This is a record to give a listener fresh heart...one feels there cannot be much wrong with jazz while it is producing records like this.” (Max Harrison, International Jazz Journal) 180g Audiophile Vinyl

From Julie London, the smoky-voiced vocalist, a CD containing 24 tracks from her singles that have never appeared on any of her many LPs. One of the most distinctive pop singers of the 1950s, (between 1955 and 1957, Billboard proclaimed London the most popular female vocalist around) Julie London enjoyed a varied career that included releasing thirty-two albums and appearing on television and film. Her hit single of "Cry Me a River" remains the benchmark rendition of this much-covered song. In this tribute to London's varied singing career, Sepia Records presents twenty-four tracks from her single releases from the 1950s and early 1960s, including her earliest known recordings from 1955 - recordings that have almost disappeared between the cracks but show the expressive and technical range of this unique artist.

World renowned Tony nominee, New York Cabaret Award "Best Jazz Vocalist" winner, and Theater World Award winner Ann Hampton Callaway delivers a must have not just for jazz and cabaret, but for lovers of great music the world over! Finding Beauty, a stirring collection of original compositions and collaborations by this brilliant Women Songwriter Hall of Fame inductee, overflows with warmth, passion and intimacy, revealing the inner feelings of this great artist!! Highlights include the joyous "The Moon Is A Kite," the uplifting duet with Kurt Elling "Love and Let Love," Ann's brilliant collab- oration with Tierney Sutton "You Can't Rush Spring," and much more

2018 release. World renowned Tony nominee, New York Cabaret Award "Best Jazz Vocalist" winner and Theater World Award winner Ann Hampton Callaway delivers a must have album. "Jazz Goes To The Movies is a spectacular collection of all-time great movie songs lovingly performed by Ann and her ensemble led by Ted Rosenthal, winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition." Jazz Goes To The Movies" conjures stirring images from the golden age of Hollywood. Highlights include the iconic "As Time Goes By" from Casablanca, Irving Berlin's immortal "Blue Skies" from The Jazz Singer, Jerome Kern's "The Way You Look Tonight" from Swing Time and many more movie classics!

This is an addendum to the acclaimed "Bix Restored" series that featured meticulous restoration of every recording on which cornetist Bix Beiderbecke played. The highlight of this volume is three newly discovered alternate takes of recordings featuring Beiderbecke: one by Paul Whiteman's orchestra and two by Frankie Trumbauer's orchestra, one of which, "Futuristic Rhythm," contains the best and most significant new solo by Bix to be discovered in nearly three decades. The rest of the CD is filled with the reverberations of Bix's influence on his contemporaries between 1927 and 1939. On this CD, you will hear the work of well-known horn men like Jimmy McPartland and Bobby Hackett, as well as more obscure disciples such as Andy Secrest and Stirling Bose. Also included are other performers such as Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman and Red Norvo, showing that Bix's influence was not limited to cornetists and trumpeters. The package also features a new essay on Bix's influence by renowned author, Bix scholar and cornetist Richard M. Sudhalter.

With the 10 arias on Tormento d'amore, Ian Bostridge demonstrates the important place that the tenor voice held in Italian opera from the mid-17th to the mid-18th century - often thought of as the era of the castrato. At this time, there were two main centres of opera in Italy: Venice, where such composers as Cavalli, Vivaldi, Cesti, Stradella, Sartorio and Legrenzi were active, and Naples, home to Provenzale, Caresana, Vinci and Fago. In addition to arias - two of them in world premiere recordings - the album offers five instrumental sinfonie and a traditional Neapolitan song, 'Lu cardillo', or 'The Goldfinch', a songbird closely associated with Naples. Bostridge is partnered by conductor Antonio Florio and his ensemble Cappella Neapolitana.

2023 release. This live solo album features the pianist and composer's interpretations of nine songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and one by George Harrison. Although other Beatles songs have long been staples of Mehldau's solo and trio shows, he had not previously recorded any of the tunes on Your Mother Should Know. The album ends with a David Bowie classic that draws a connection between The Beatles and pop songwriters who followed. Your Mother Should Know was recorded in September 2020 at Philharmonie de Paris.

Wesla Whitfield is known for her deft sense of swing and incisive ballad readings. Now she returns to release IN MY LIFE, a gorgeous collection of 15 wonderful works by such diverse composers as Leonard Bernstein, Vernon Duke and Lennon/McCarney.

Weslia continues her traversal through the Great American Songbook with this tribute to composer McHugh, who never achieved the fame of Gershwin or Porter, but nonetheless created some true classics that were widely known, inc. "Don't Blame Me," "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" & "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me"

Vinyl LP pressing. 2023 release. The Layers is a stunning companion piece to guitarist Julian Lage's acclaimed 2022 album View With A Room. The collection features six original pieces featuring the trio of bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King with the addition of guitar icon Bill Frisell. Intimate and gorgeous, The Layers is a welcome additional offering from this meeting of two of modern jazz's most distinctive voices with one of the music's most skilled and inventive rhythm sections.

Vinyl LP pressing. Verve Records releases the latest editions in it's breakout Great Women of Song series, which pays homage to the ground-breaking work and lasting impact of some of the greatest female vocalists of all time. Like her idol Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae could own a ballad and make it all her own. She could also swing every bit as hard as her other main influence, Ella Fitzgerald. Coming up during the bebop era and under the musical sway of Thelonious Monk, Carmen made a series of recordings for the Decca label that would cement her reputation and launch a career that close to 50 years. Whether in small groups or backed by a studio orchestra, Carmen McRae recorded definitive versions of songs that make up the backbones of jazz and the Great American Songbook.

Julian Lage - "Speak To Me" / Julian Lage returns with Speak To Me, his remarkable fourth release for Blue Note, which finds the guitar virtuoso broadening his sonic palette in collaboration with esteemed producer Joe Henry who enhances Lage's trademark melodic lyricism on this wide-ranging set of compelling new originals. In addition to Lage's longtime trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums, the album also features contributions from saxophonist Levon Henry, keyboardist Patrick Warren, and Kris Davis on piano. CD Softpak. Capitol Music Group; Blue Note; Jazz