(summary) Laura Lootens' deeply sensitive tribute to music of Romantic essence ranges from Frederic Chopin, in transcriptions by guitarists Jerzy Koenig and Tariq Harb, to La Chanson des vieux amants as sung by Jacques Brel and the sumptuous lyricism of Agustin Barrios Mangore. (complete blurb) As a teenager, Laura Lootens discovered a song by Sting that deeply moved her. From the 1993 album Ten Summoner's Tales, Shape of My Heart has remained her favourite song, to this day. She includes it as an epilogue on her second album for Naive, which she conceived as a heartfelt tribute to music of Romantic essence. At it's core lies Frederic Chopin-the epitome of Romanticism-who with his Waltzes, Mazurkas and Nocturnes delighted the salon society of the nineteenth century, those refined spaces that straddled aristocracy and bourgeoisie. He remains the ultimate embodiment of a Romanticism both profound and exquisitely elegant. Gone, then, is the demonic spirit that haunted the German guitarist's first album, 'Diabolico' (2025, V 8672), which was steeped in mysterious narratives where pacts with the devil and ghostly apparitions abounded. Yet Laura Lootens's playing retains the same poetic incisiveness in this new journey between France and the Americas. From music by Frederic Chopin, presented in subtle arrangements by her seniors, Jerzy Koenig (b. 1956), Tariq Harb (b. 1981) and Agustin Barrios 'Mangore' (1885-1944)-the latter an absolute legend among guitarists, often dubbed the 'Chopin of Latin America', in whom the refined elegance of the Polish composer lives on amid daring harmonies and richly spiced rhythms-the young Lootens, female musician and First Prize winner of the Andres Segovia Competition in 2022, offers a complete map of romantic sensibility, leading all the way to more recent times. She then traces the influence of the 'master of the mazurka', right up to the modern French chanson, including the timeless Hymne a l'amour by edith Piaf and La Chanson des vieux amants by Jacques Brel and Gerard Jouannest, and extends it further into a different aesthetic realm with one of the 24 Preludios Chopinianos (undoubtedly a 'homage') by Brazilian guitarist Sergio Assad (b. 1952). She then also includes the Assad's transcription of the Notturno by John Field, the early-nineteenth-century Irish composer who himself inspired Frederic Chopin in the development of the nocturne as a genre. A gem of the guitar repertoire, the expansive Elegie by Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856), which is imbued with lyricism as haunting as it is intense, marks the culmination of a journey that boldly affirms it's guiding credo. Within these enduring resonances of Romanticism, Laura Lootens communicates a style that alternates between restraint and incandescent intensity, making this album the ideal companion for autumn evenings by a crackling fire.

(summary) In October 2024, the Orchestre National de France under the baton of music director Cristian Macelaru, immersed itself in one of the great symphonic works of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): his extraordinary Resurrection Symphony. On this new recording, the epic journey unfolds serenely, bathed in warm pastoral colours. (complete blurb) Over two evenings on 24 and 25 October 2024, the Orchestre National de France under it's music director Cristian Macelaru immersed themselves in the extraordinary symphonic epic that Gustav Mahler wrote in the 1890s: his utterly unrestrained Symphony No. 2, the Resurrection. What a baptism of fire! The Romanian conductor, not known for his Mahler until now, boldly takes up, in Paris, the very same score that the legendary Leonard Bernstein conducted at his first great Parisian triumph on 13 November 1958-which as it happens was also with the Orchestre National. More than 70 years after Bernstein, Cristian Macelaru offers a vision that is the complete opposite, with a chamber-like approach of delicacy and pastoral warmth, in contrast to his illustrious predecessor's grandiose and solemn take. The textures are therefore amazingly light: the magnificent transparency of the strings is answered by woodwinds brimming with freshness, discreetly revealing the roots of a composer born not far from Prague who was passionately drawn to new sonorities and unexpected instrumental blends. Under the Romanian conductor's direction, joined here by the luminous soprano of Hanna-Elisabeth Muller and the amber-toned mezzo of Karen Cargill, the passionate journey of Resurrection becomes one of profound serenity. The architecture of the work remains consistently natural and supple, and the symphony finds it's unity effortlessly despite the remarkable diversity of soundscapes of which it is made. It was in 1888 that Gustav Mahler first conceived the large-scale symphonic piece he called Todtenfeier (Funeral Rites), in which he portrays, from the height of a steep promontory, the entire life of the hero of his First Symphony, the Titan. Slightly revised, this became the introductory Allegro maestoso of the Second Symphony, to which Mahler later added four more movements. The second takes the form of a shimmering Landler, deceptively gracious, with interwoven motifs. The third is a scherzo based on his song Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt ('St. Anthony of Padua preaching to the fishes', No. 6 from Des Knaben Wunderhorn). For the fourth movement, the composer draws on another song from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, No. 12, Urlicht ('Primeval Light'), preserving the vocal line while altering some of the orchestration and harmonic progressions. Gustav Mahler searched a long time for inspiration for the Finale, finding it eventually while listening to a choir sing a hymn during the funeral of the great conductor Hans von Bulow. The hymn was based on words by the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, and Mahler resolved then and there to conclude his work with this hymn to resurrection, supplementing Klopstock's text with several verses of his own. Overall, then, Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 opens with a meditation on death, and moves steadily through earthly life in all it's tenderness and irony to a proclamation of faith in the resurrection-the sole subject of the Finale-in which soloists, chorus and orchestra come together in a glorious gesture of reconciliation.

After two initial chamber music albums recorded with Helen Huang, violinist Paul Huang, recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2015, confirms in the concerto repertoire his strong affinity for the lyrical qualities of his instrument. He chose to record the concertos by Barber and Korngold for their broad, expressive melodies, their sumptuous harmonic language, and their climaxes of great emotional transparency, which echo the spirit of late Romanticism associated with Brahms, Tchaikovsky, or Bruch. Korngold himself said that he had composed his concerto "for a Caruso of the violin rather than for a Paganini." This is sure to appeal to the thirty-something violinist, who was drawn to his instrument at a very young age "because of it's singing tone, a sound that resembles the human voice." These two American concertos, dating from the mid-twentieth century, offer him the stimulating challenge of painting worlds that are both luxuriant and intimate, using the refined palette of a chamber musician. To meet this challenge, he is joined by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Jun Markl, a conductor with whom he frequently collaborates in concert. Korngold, an Austrian composer who fled to America in 1936 under pressure from the rise of Nazism and whom Mahler described as a "musical genius," composed extensively for Hollywood. Here, he notably draws his thematic material from several of his earlier film scores. The American composer Barber, for his part, captures the atmosphere of the United States in the 1930s, while also evoking the vast American landscapes and the industrial dynamism of New York. "A profound vulnerability also emerges from these two works, particularly in their sublime slow movements," the violinist notes. The slow movement of Barber's concerto expresses a deep sense of dismay, uncertainty, and despair characteristic of the Great Depression. The luxuriant Romantic language of old Europe, transformed through Korngold's experience in cinema, and Barber's lyrical voice - marked by great emotional sincerity and deeply rooted in the American soil - represent for Paul Huang two complementary visions of American musical identity. They take on particular meaning for him, a Taiwanese-born musician

Eternal Child, Avishai Cohen's new album, will be released in May and showcases the full depth of his artistry as a bassist and composer. Years later, he reunites with drummer Jeff Ballard on selected tracks, recalling their strong musical connection forged alongside Chick Corea. Recorded at the renowned Studio de Meudon in Paris, Eternal Child stands as a major new chapter in Cohen's work.

Eternal Child, Avishai Cohen's new album, will be released in May and showcases the full depth of his artistry as a bassist and composer. Years later, he reunites with drummer Jeff Ballard on selected tracks, recalling their strong musical connection forged alongside Chick Corea. Recorded at the renowned Studio de Meudon in Paris, Eternal Child stands as a major new chapter in Cohen's work.

The entire project is both spare and impossibly lush. While this may sound like a contradiction, it has everything to do with the virtuosic musicianship of pianist Art Hirahara and Jim Tomlinson, as well as Stacey's elegant and unadorned vocal approach. The opening track, Lucky To Be Me, works as an invitation to the theme of the album and uses the open space between vocal phrases to draw us in. And, while all of the tracks are worth an unadulterated listen, I'm going to list a few of my favorites, starting with La Javanaise, which is delivered with an almost offhanded musical precision and sung in Stacey's pitch-perfect French. The surprising warmth of Stacey's lower vocal range makes A Time For Love the intimate ballad it was meant to be. Jim's tenor sax does the same, so that his playing is the ideal complement to Stacey's voice. The entire album is a joy to listen to both musically and sonically. It was lovingly recorded and mixed by Jim (yet another of his talents) at their home studio in Virginia. - Cliff Goldmacher Stacey Kent is an American jazz singer in the mould of the greats, with a legion of fans, a host of honors and awards including a Grammy® nomination, album sales in excess of 2 million and more than one billion streams, and Platinum, Double-Gold, and Gold-selling albums that have reached a series of chart-topping positions. Stacey, a comparative literature graduate with a passion for music, travelled to Europe to further her studies after receiving her degree from Sarah Lawrence College in NY. Through a series of twists of fate, she found herself in London, where she enrolled in a graduate music program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she met her future husband and musical partner, Jim Tomlinson. Kent's musical journey began with childhood piano lessons. A keen ear and true voice led her to search out opportunities to express her love of music. However, nothing suggested the shift from the academic path to the one that propelled her to international recognition as one of the foremost jazz singers of her generation. With a catalogue of 13 studio albums, including the Platinum-selling, Grammy®-nominated Breakfast On The Morning Tram (Blue Note/EMI 2007) and an impressive list of collaborations, Stacey has graced the stages of nearly 60 countries over the course of her career. Her worldwide fan base is testimony to her ability to express the emotional heart of her songs with delicately nuanced interpretations that transcend borders and defy categorization. Her unique multi-lingual repertoire includes standards, chanson, Bossa Nova, and originals written by Jim Tomlinson, her saxophonist/producer/composer/arranger husband, in collaboration with the Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, with whom they have worked since 2006. She has also recorded with Brazilian legends Marcos Valle, Roberto Menescal, and Danilo Caymmi, and the celebrated French string quartet, the Quatuor Ébène. Stacey's last studio album, Summer Me, Winter Me, was released in November 2023 on Naïve Records. A collection of fans' requests from her as-yet unrecorded concert repertoire, Summer Me, Winter Me entered the French jazz charts at number 1 and has quickly established itself as a new highlight in her discography. She now returns with A Time For Love, set to appear on April 3rd, 2026.

The entire project is both spare and impossibly lush. While this may sound like a contradiction, it has everything to do with the virtuosic musicianship of pianist Art Hirahara and Jim Tomlinson, as well as Stacey's elegant and unadorned vocal approach. The opening track, Lucky To Be Me, works as an invitation to the theme of the album and uses the open space between vocal phrases to draw us in. And, while all of the tracks are worth an unadulterated listen, I'm going to list a few of my favorites, starting with La Javanaise, which is delivered with an almost offhanded musical precision and sung in Stacey's pitch-perfect French. The surprising warmth of Stacey's lower vocal range makes A Time For Love the intimate ballad it was meant to be. Jim's tenor sax does the same, so that his playing is the ideal complement to Stacey's voice. The entire album is a joy to listen to both musically and sonically. It was lovingly recorded and mixed by Jim (yet another of his talents) at their home studio in Virginia. - Cliff Goldmacher Stacey Kent is an American jazz singer in the mould of the greats, with a legion of fans, a host of honors and awards including a Grammy® nomination, album sales in excess of 2 million and more than one billion streams, and Platinum, Double-Gold, and Gold-selling albums that have reached a series of chart-topping positions. Stacey, a comparative literature graduate with a passion for music, travelled to Europe to further her studies after receiving her degree from Sarah Lawrence College in NY. Through a series of twists of fate, she found herself in London, where she enrolled in a graduate music program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she met her future husband and musical partner, Jim Tomlinson. Kent's musical journey began with childhood piano lessons. A keen ear and true voice led her to search out opportunities to express her love of music. However, nothing suggested the shift from the academic path to the one that propelled her to international recognition as one of the foremost jazz singers of her generation. With a catalogue of 13 studio albums, including the Platinum-selling, Grammy®-nominated Breakfast On The Morning Tram (Blue Note/EMI 2007) and an impressive list of collaborations, Stacey has graced the stages of nearly 60 countries over the course of her career. Her worldwide fan base is testimony to her ability to express the emotional heart of her songs with delicately nuanced interpretations that transcend borders and defy categorization. Her unique multi-lingual repertoire includes standards, chanson, Bossa Nova, and originals written by Jim Tomlinson, her saxophonist/producer/composer/arranger husband, in collaboration with the Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, with whom they have worked since 2006. She has also recorded with Brazilian legends Marcos Valle, Roberto Menescal, and Danilo Caymmi, and the celebrated French string quartet, the Quatuor Ébène. Stacey's last studio album, Summer Me, Winter Me, was released in November 2023 on Naïve Records. A collection of fans' requests from her as-yet unrecorded concert repertoire, Summer Me, Winter Me entered the French jazz charts at number 1 and has quickly established itself as a new highlight in her discography. She now returns with A Time For Love, set to appear on April 3rd, 2026.

A leading drummer and producer, Nate Smith seamlessly blends jazz, funk, R&B, and hip-hop, driven by a groove that is both razor-sharp and deeply musical. LIVE-ACTION quickly made an impact, earning two GRAMMY® Award nominations in the categories of Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Arrangement, Instruments & Vocals for the track featuring säje. With LIVE-ACTION Deluxe, Smith expands on the album's live energy, staying true to his organic, hands-on approach while once again collaborating with top voices in contemporary jazz, including Braxton Cook. Nate Smith envisioned LIVE-ACTION as a producer-driven project inspired by the legacy of Quincy Jones. "As a producer, I wanted to activate all the relationships I've built over the past five or six years, especially since the pandemic, many of them through social media," he explains. The album features an all-star cast of collaborators including Josh Johnson and Marquis Hill, rapper JSWISS, guitarists Charlie Hunter and Lionel Loueke, bassists Michael League, Ben Williams, and CARRTOONS, keyboardists DJ Harrison and Keifer, the vocal group säje, singer Jermaine Holmes, and Lalah Hathaway. Hathaway delivers a standout performance on a bold reimagining of the Pointer Sisters' 1984 classic Automatic, fully reharmonized and reworked alongside Smith. While LIVE-ACTION is highly collaborative, Smith maintains a strong sense of cohesion through intentional creative limitations. "I wanted the record to feel like it was recorded to tape in my bedroom. I limited myself on purpose, using analog gear and the same instruments throughout. I did just two or three takes per part, with no copy and paste or studio tricks. Everything you hear was played live. Nothing is programmed or sequenced." With the release of LIVE-ACTION Deluxe, Nate Smith builds on that momentum, introducing new collaborations and previously unreleased performances while celebrating the success of the original album, which earned two GRAMMY® Award nominations.

The Guesthouse is about collaboration, inclusion, and the essence of welcoming which is the essence of an open door. It's my most ambitious project to date, sonically and compositionally. It involves so many incredibly talented people: some are in the front, playing music together with me, offering their insight, time, effort, and love, and some incredibly talented and hardworking people are behind the scenes, facilitating, allowing, and inspiring me to keep pushing forward. Musically speaking, the color palette on The Guesthouse is huge. It introduces many musical guests that I admire deeply: MARO, Immanuel Wilkins, Michael Mayo, and many more. It includes lyric writing for the first time, electronic instruments, guitars, trumpets, flutes, flamenco musicians, in-depth production work, my quartet, solo piano, odd meter explorations, improvisations, songs with no time, strings, two pianos conversing and more and more and more.. I dove as deep as I could into these deep waters. The result is my attempt to turn the creative chaos that lives in mind mind into one coherent artistic statement, always having a simple melody as a thread that tells the story of this collective. Shai Maestro Shai Maestro (b. 1987) is one of the most inventive and influential pianists of his generation. Since debuting with his own trio in 2011, he has developed a distinctive musical voice that is fluid, expressive, and profoundly lyrical. His artistry has made him a defining figure in contemporary jazz, merging improvisation, composition, and global influences into a sound that is both cinematic and deeply personal. Maestro began studying classical piano at the age of five and discovered jazz at eight through the recordings of Keith Jarrett and Oscar Peterson. At nineteen, he joined bassist Avishai Cohen's trio, co-writing the acclaimed Gently Disturbed and performing worldwide. In 2011, he formed his own trio, recording six albums that solidified his reputation as a singular voice in modern jazz. His years with ECM Records, under the guidance of Manfred Eicher, placed him among the lineage of pianists such as Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley, and Chick Corea. With drummer Ofri Nehemya and bassist Jorge Roeder, he recorded his first ECM album "The Dream Thief", later joined by trumpeter Philip Dizack for the second - "Human", both expanding the expressive language of the modern jazz quartet. Today, Maestro continues to evolve artistically with a new quartet featuring keyboardist Gadi Lehavi, drummer Ofri Nehemya, and bassist Jorge Roeder. Gadi, the new wild card in the group, brings a distinctive energy and vision; his presence as another pianist opens fresh possibilities for dialogue, texture, and experimentation between two keyboards. This lineup functions as a powerful, cohesive engine driving Maestro's musical exploration, blending jazz improvisation with modern production into a sound that is organic, cinematic, and forward-looking. In 2025, Maestro signed a long-term partnership with the Paris-based label naive records, a defining milestone that opened an expansive new chapter in his artistic life. The collaboration with naive marked a moment of renewal and bold creative ambition, setting the stage for a period of profound exploration. The first fruit of this partnership was his solo piano album, Solo: Miniatures & Tales. Introspective and deeply personal, it revealed the most intimate side of Maestro's artistry; a work of quiet reflection, nuance, and restraint. This album stands in deliberate contrast to the broader, outward-looking vision of his forthcoming project, The Guesthouse, highlighting the duality at the heart of Maestro's creative world: the tension between introspection and expansion. In March 2026, Maestro will release The Guesthouse, a record that features Portuguese singer MARO alongside Immanuel Wilkins, and Michael Mayo. The album represents a bold leap forward, combining the sensitivity of modern jazz with electronic sound design and the harmonic depth of classical music. The Guesthouse creates a lush, cinematic space where boundaries dissolve, embodying Maestro's exploration of openness and collaboration.

The Guesthouse is about collaboration, inclusion, and the essence of welcoming which is the essence of an open door. It's my most ambitious project to date, sonically and compositionally. It involves so many incredibly talented people: some are in the front, playing music together with me, offering their insight, time, effort, and love, and some incredibly talented and hardworking people are behind the scenes, facilitating, allowing, and inspiring me to keep pushing forward. Musically speaking, the color palette on The Guesthouse is huge. It introduces many musical guests that I admire deeply: MARO, Immanuel Wilkins, Michael Mayo, and many more. It includes lyric writing for the first time, electronic instruments, guitars, trumpets, flutes, flamenco musicians, in-depth production work, my quartet, solo piano, odd meter explorations, improvisations, songs with no time, strings, two pianos conversing and more and more and more.. I dove as deep as I could into these deep waters. The result is my attempt to turn the creative chaos that lives in mind mind into one coherent artistic statement, always having a simple melody as a thread that tells the story of this collective. Shai Maestro Shai Maestro (b. 1987) is one of the most inventive and influential pianists of his generation. Since debuting with his own trio in 2011, he has developed a distinctive musical voice that is fluid, expressive, and profoundly lyrical. His artistry has made him a defining figure in contemporary jazz, merging improvisation, composition, and global influences into a sound that is both cinematic and deeply personal. Maestro began studying classical piano at the age of five and discovered jazz at eight through the recordings of Keith Jarrett and Oscar Peterson. At nineteen, he joined bassist Avishai Cohen's trio, co-writing the acclaimed Gently Disturbed and performing worldwide. In 2011, he formed his own trio, recording six albums that solidified his reputation as a singular voice in modern jazz. His years with ECM Records, under the guidance of Manfred Eicher, placed him among the lineage of pianists such as Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley, and Chick Corea. With drummer Ofri Nehemya and bassist Jorge Roeder, he recorded his first ECM album "The Dream Thief", later joined by trumpeter Philip Dizack for the second - "Human", both expanding the expressive language of the modern jazz quartet. Today, Maestro continues to evolve artistically with a new quartet featuring keyboardist Gadi Lehavi, drummer Ofri Nehemya, and bassist Jorge Roeder. Gadi, the new wild card in the group, brings a distinctive energy and vision; his presence as another pianist opens fresh possibilities for dialogue, texture, and experimentation between two keyboards. This lineup functions as a powerful, cohesive engine driving Maestro's musical exploration, blending jazz improvisation with modern production into a sound that is organic, cinematic, and forward-looking. In 2025, Maestro signed a long-term partnership with the Paris-based label naive records, a defining milestone that opened an expansive new chapter in his artistic life. The collaboration with naive marked a moment of renewal and bold creative ambition, setting the stage for a period of profound exploration. The first fruit of this partnership was his solo piano album, Solo: Miniatures & Tales. Introspective and deeply personal, it revealed the most intimate side of Maestro's artistry; a work of quiet reflection, nuance, and restraint. This album stands in deliberate contrast to the broader, outward-looking vision of his forthcoming project, The Guesthouse, highlighting the duality at the heart of Maestro's creative world: the tension between introspection and expansion. In March 2026, Maestro will release The Guesthouse, a record that features Portuguese singer MARO alongside Immanuel Wilkins, and Michael Mayo. The album represents a bold leap forward, combining the sensitivity of modern jazz with electronic sound design and the harmonic depth of classical music. The Guesthouse creates a lush, cinematic space where boundaries dissolve, embodying Maestro's exploration of openness and collaboration.

Armenian piano virtuoso Tigran Hamasyan returns with Manifeste, out February 6, 2025-a powerful fusion of jazz, progressive rock, and Armenian folk. Recorded across five countries, the album blends rhythmic complexity, cinematic depth, and spiritual intensity, featuring longtime collaborators and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir. Manifeste is a bold declaration where the human, digital, and sacred unite in sound. Following The Bird of a Thousand Voices, Hamasyan continues his artistic exploration with Manifeste (2025)-a bold, multi-dimensional statement recorded between 2023 and 2025 across studios in Yerevan, Athens, Moscow, Los Angeles, and beyond. Entirely composed and produced by Hamasyan, Manifeste fuses his signature rhythmic complexity and spiritual depth with a more cinematic soundscape, where Armenian folk roots, progressive rock intensity, and choral mysticism intertwine. The album unfolds like a ritual sequence-from the meditative "Prelude for All Seekers" to the powerful "National Repentance Anthem. " Collaborators include longtime partners Marc Karapetian (bass) and drummers Arthur Hnatek, Arman Mnatsakanyan, Matt Garstka, and Nate Wood, alongside contributions from cellist Artyom Manukyan, trumpeter Daniel Melkonyan, guitarist Nick Llerandi, and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir conducted by Kristina Voskanyan. Each piece radiates Hamasyan's fascination with transcendence and transformation, whether through the fiery rhythmic drive of "Dardahan" and "Ultradance, " the haunting choral layers of "One Body, One Blood, " or the intimate dedications "Years Passing (For Akram)" and "A Window from One Heart to Another (For Rumi). " In Manifeste, Hamasyan brings together the human, digital, and sacred-a declaration of unity through sound, where modern technology meets ancient resonance. In addition to awards and critical acclaim, Hamasyan has built a dedicated following worldwide, as well as praise from Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, and the late Chick Corea. "With startling combinations of jazz, minimalist, electronic, folk, and songwriterly elements. Hamasyan and his collaborators travel musical expanses marked with heavy grooves, ethereal voices, pristine piano playing and ancient melodies. You'll hear nothing else like this. " (NPR)

Armenian piano virtuoso Tigran Hamasyan returns with Manifeste, out February 6, 2026-a powerful fusion of jazz, progressive rock, and Armenian folk. Recorded across five countries, the album blends rhythmic complexity, cinematic depth, and spiritual intensity, featuring longtime collaborators and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir. Manifeste is a bold declaration where the human, digital, and sacred unite in sound. Following The Bird of a Thousand Voices, Hamasyan continues his artistic exploration with Manifeste (2025)-a bold, multi-dimensional statement recorded between 2023 and 2025 across studios in Yerevan, Athens, Moscow, Los Angeles, and beyond. Entirely composed and produced by Hamasyan, Manifeste fuses his signature rhythmic complexity and spiritual depth with a more cinematic soundscape, where Armenian folk roots, progressive rock intensity, and choral mysticism intertwine. The album unfolds like a ritual sequence-from the meditative "Prelude for All Seekers" to the powerful "National Repentance Anthem. " Collaborators include longtime partners Marc Karapetian (bass) and drummers Arthur Hnatek, Arman Mnatsakanyan, Matt Garstka, and Nate Wood, alongside contributions from cellist Artyom Manukyan, trumpeter Daniel Melkonyan, guitarist Nick Llerandi, and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir conducted by Kristina Voskanyan. Each piece radiates Hamasyan's fascination with transcendence and transformation, whether through the fiery rhythmic drive of "Dardahan" and "Ultradance, " the haunting choral layers of "One Body, One Blood, " or the intimate dedications "Years Passing (For Akram)" and "A Window from One Heart to Another (For Rumi). " In Manifeste, Hamasyan brings together the human, digital, and sacred-a declaration of unity through sound, where modern technology meets ancient resonance. In addition to awards and critical acclaim, Hamasyan has built a dedicated following worldwide, as well as praise from Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, and the late Chick Corea. "With startling combinations of jazz, minimalist, electronic, folk and songwriterly elements. Hamasyan and his collaborators travel musical expanses marked with heavy grooves, ethereal voices, pristine piano playing and ancient melodies. You'll hear nothing else like this. " (NPR)

By spreading a five-day festival dedicated to the music of Maurice Ravel across the French capital in March 2025, the Orchestre National de France was celebrating both the 150th anniversary of French composer's birth and it's own captivating history. Whoever the orchestra's Director might be, whatever changes and evolutions have taken place involving musicians, instruments, or anything else, Ravel's music remains, like Debussy's, absolutely central to it's repertoire, and has been ever since it's founding, in January 1934, by Jean Mistler, the then Minister of Post, Telegraphs and Telephones, and Desire-emile Inghelbrecht (1880-1965), the renowned composer and conductor. The nearly three hours of music in this lovingly illustrated naïve boxed set offer a vast compendium of the French composer's orchestral works, missing only the Menuet antique, the Valses nobles et sentimentales and the Sheherazade overture. Le Tombeau de Couperin, given here in a version that respects the order of the original piano suite and also supplemented by David Molard Soriano's two unpublished, arresting orchestrations, and the complete ballet score of Daphnis et Chloe, both work all their subtle yet utterly intoxicating magic. Surely it is impossible not to marvel at this vividly told account of Daphnis et Chloe, at the natural, filigree balance of the ensemble in, for instance, the Introduction et Danse religieuse and the introduction to Pantomime, at those curvaceous phrases in Danse lente et mysterieuse des Nymphes and Lever du jour, or at the rhythm, rigidly maintained without the least hint of aggression in an unforgettable Danse suppliante de Chloe and the final Bacchanale. The Orchestre National and it's former Directors Inghelbrecht, Desormière, up until Martinon at the beginning of the 1970s, created a particular style for Ravel, ethereal, elastic, intelligently balanced, the harmonies always radiant. From the very first concert of this new Ravelian spring, which took place on 28 February 2025 in Paris's Philharmonie, the current Director of the orchestra, the Romanian Cristian Macelaru, resurrected this spirit and sustained it until the sublime apotheosis of Ma Mère l'Oye, the final piece of the final concert, on 13 March. From Jardin feerique thus emerged subtle yet raw, honest emotions, the very essence of the magic that is Ravel. 08 JULY 2025

The first instalment in an exploration of the German Romantic repertoire for piano trio, this double album recorded by the Trio Zadig, now on the naïve label, offers an utterly thrilling journey between darkness and light. It groups together the two essential Trios for violin, cello and piano (Op. 49 and Op. 66) by Felix Mendelssohn and the Op. 11 Trio, by Fanny, his immensely brilliant sister so beloved by her brother. In the Trio Zadig's hands, the sister's work, composed between 1846 and 1847, a few months before her premature death, impresses with the singular structural balance. Notably the Allegro molto vivace is a real pearl which alternates moments of subtle nostalgia with an elegant drama, among some tempestuous and thoughtful writing. Impossible not to be captivated, moreover, by the freshness of the Andante espressivo. Here the three players reveal a theme of majesty and tenderness, slightly reminiscent of Beethoven. The following Lied will remind us that the Mendelssohn household was nourished by J. S. Bach's protestant spirit. In truth, the same creative lifeblood flowed in the veins of both sister and brother. Having grown up in a household where one learned music like another language, Felix and Fanny were each other's first audiences, first critics, and eternal confidants. These exciting yet reflective performances by the Trio Zadig (violinist Miclen Laipang, cellist Marc Girard Garcia and pianist Guillaume Vincent) in the first place pay due respect to this common ground. From Felix's famous first Piano Trio, likewise in D minor, gushes in effect the same fundamental warmth, the same calm mastery, and the second Piano Trio, with it's subtly measured storms and it's gently restless flavour, recalls Fanny's contemporaneous work of 1845. In a nod to the culture of reciprocal inspiration which of course was at the heart of Mendelssohn's Berlin home, and which recalls their own life as rehearsing, travelling and performing chamber musicians, sharing almost everything together, the Trio Zadig completes it's programme with two of Felix's more intimate works; one taken from the second volume of the Lieder ohne Worte, transcribed for piano trio by Cyrille Lehn, and the other the Notturno from A Midsummer Night's Dream, in a rare nineteenth century transcription. And - surprise, surprise! - a mouth-watering encore, the extremely touching Trio composed by Felix at the age of eleven, a somewhat Haydn-like pastiche, and an utter marvel.

This box set brings together four CDs capturing Avishai Cohen's formative years, recorded between 1998 and 2001-a pivotal era shaped by his collaboration with Chick Corea. Adama (1998) introduces a bold fusion of contemporary jazz and Middle Eastern traditions. Devotion (1999) reveals a more introspective and spiritual voice, enhanced by strings and vocals. With Colors (2000), Cohen embraces a synesthetic approach where harmonies and rhythms evoke vivid imagery. Unity (2001), finally, fully reflects his vision of a global, socially conscious jazz led by the International Vamp Band.

The French and Italian Renaissance song repertoire, immortalised during the first three decades of the sixteenth century by the printed editions of Pierre Attaingnant in Paris and Ottaviano Petrucci in Venice, invites audiences, and in former times performers, to immerse themselves in a world in which memories of medieval courtly poetry, the austerity (as reimagined in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries) of ancient lamentations, and a fully polyphonic narrative style, were all collided and superimposed-a certain sense of conversation can remind us also of the French air de cour as well as the early Italian madrigal form. These chansons and frottole give rise to discrete, almost enigmatic emotions, where music and text unite as one, transparent and restrained. Guided by the subtle sound of Hopkinson Smith's lute, the diaphanous voice of German soprano Sophie Klussmann roams over this little-known early Renaissance territory through four sections which take the form of return journeys between France and Italy. The sly melancholy of songs by Claude de Sermisy (Puisqu'en amours) and other French contemporary figures, some of them settings of poems by Clement Marot, thus collides with more plaintive pieces, by Marchetto Cara (Io non compro piu speranza) and Bartolomeo Tromboncino, whose supplicatory Per dolor me bagno il viso and final, heady Dolermi sempre voglio both attain peaks of intensity, at the same time being two sumptuous examples of the frottola form. During these sixty minutes, Sophie Klussmann produces exquisitely subtle and precious wisps of sound, recalling that the heart and soul of these snapshots very often remains the matter of love. Her dark gold timbre hints at the eternal in the one piece in the programme whose text is of a religious nature, the sublime, questioning prayer Se mai per maraveglia.

GRAMMY-nominated drummer Nate Smith, known for his deep groove and genre-blending style, has worked with legends like Pat Metheny and Jose James, and wowed millions with his viral drum videos. Following acclaimed projects like KINFOLK: Postcards from Everywhere and Pocket Change, Smith returns with a new album, out August 29, continuing his journey through jazz, R&B, and beyond. Some of the most renowned names in the jazz scene have joined him on the project, including Lalah Hathaway, Michael League, Lionel Loueke, and more.

Two years after her acclaimed complete Mozart Sonatas, Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son immerses herself, alongside the musicians of the Hague Residence Orchestra and their musical director Anja Bihlmaier, in Ravel's two equally dark Concertos. This intimate, personal vision is complemented by four pieces by J. S. Bach, played in very rare arrangements by Paul Wittgenstein, the famous commissioner of the Concerto for the Left Hand.

After two years of solo touring, Yaron Herman presents his new album Radio Paradise. He returns with an exceptional ensemble, joining forces with two of the finest saxophonists in the world: Maria Grand, a rising international star, and Alexandra Grimal, a major figure in improvised music. This album takes us on a quest for lyricism, depth and sincerity, with elegant melodies and powerful rhythms, in a project that is both spiritual and deeply moving. "When I started working on this album, the first thing that came to my mind was melody. I have been writing a lot over the last few years, mostly in my notebooks, for myself. On the road or at home, anything from long lines to short fragments. With time, (and hard work) these "motifs" started to take shape and turn into "songs". While playing them, exploring what they could become, I realized I was looking for a sound that wasn't "just» the piano. These melodies required another voice. Saxophonists Maria Grand and Alexandra Grimal have different approaches, yet both have a mysterious, powerful and lyrical quality that I was looking for. Those qualities, combined with Haggai Cohen Milo's beautiful tone and rhythmic versatility and the playing and precious ideas throughout the Process of my longtime musical brother, Ziv Ravitz, made these songs truly come to life. In the studio we were fortunate to have the experience and perspective of producer Daniel Yvinec who encouraged us to push the music further, taking risks. I imagined each composition as a different scenario, a landscape offering a fertile ground from which improvisation could grow. Improvisation: a quest for the sweet spot between freedom and constraint. The playfulness of it all. Providing the tools but not the final edifice, providing the canvas but not dictating what to paint on it. That's how Radio Paradise happened. We stumbled upon the title in the studio, while discussing how opposites complete each other, and how our role as artists is to try and reconcile that which seems in opposition. To find the space where music flows effortlessly, and from the heart." YARON HERMAN

After two years of solo touring, Yaron Herman presents his new album Radio Paradise. He returns with an exceptional ensemble, joining forces with two of the finest saxophonists in the world: Maria Grand, a rising international star, and Alexandra Grimal, a major figure in improvised music. This album takes us on a quest for lyricism, depth and sincerity, with elegant melodies and powerful rhythms, in a project that is both spiritual and deeply moving. "When I started working on this album, the first thing that came to my mind was melody. I have been writing a lot over the last few years, mostly in my notebooks, for myself. On the road or at home, anything from long lines to short fragments. With time, (and hard work) these "motifs" started to take shape and turn into "songs". While playing them, exploring what they could become, I realized I was looking for a sound that wasn't "just» the piano. These melodies required another voice. Saxophonists Maria Grand and Alexandra Grimal have different approaches, yet both have a mysterious, powerful and lyrical quality that I was looking for. Those qualities, combined with Haggai Cohen Milo's beautiful tone and rhythmic versatility and the playing and precious ideas throughout the Process of my longtime musical brother, Ziv Ravitz, made these songs truly come to life. In the studio we were fortunate to have the experience and perspective of producer Daniel Yvinec who encouraged us to push the music further, taking risks. I imagined each composition as a different scenario, a landscape offering a fertile ground from which improvisation could grow. Improvisation: a quest for the sweet spot between freedom and constraint. The playfulness of it all. Providing the tools but not the final edifice, providing the canvas but not dictating what to paint on it. That's how Radio Paradise happened. We stumbled upon the title in the studio, while discussing how opposites complete each other, and how our role as artists is to try and reconcile that which seems in opposition. To find the space where music flows effortlessly, and from the heart." YARON HERMAN

This seventy-fourth volume of the Vivaldi Edition of the naïve label is dedicated to the opera Arsilda, a work of great dramatic variety that greatly stimulates the insatiable imagination of the Venetian. This major work is defended here with ardor and fluidity by Andrea Marcon, his musicians of La Cetra, and seven singers in perfect artistic communion, including the mezzo-sopranos Benedetta Mazzucato and Vasilisa Berzhanskaya in the two main roles (Arsilda, and Lisea).

Trained in Kyiv, his hometown, then in Austria where he lives today, Dmytro Choni - Bronze Medalist at the 2022 Van Cliburn, Gold Medalist at the Santander Paloma O'Shea in 2018 - imagines for his recording debut with naive an ingenious and mischievous dialogue between Paradise and Hell, in direct echo to the Divine Comedy of Dante Aligheri, the essential poet of the late Italian Middle Ages, who was a strong influence on a Romanticism that was looking for it's roots. The luminous pieces, with soothing melodies, will embody Paradise. The first opus of his compatriot Valentyn Silvestrov, whose aesthetic recalls the quiet beauty of Kyiv, the calm Bagatelles open the present journey in elegiac tones, even if here and there, as in the moving Moderato median, some beginnings of a coming anxiety emerge. The terrifying darkness will burst forth from the incipit of Apres une lecture de Dante (Liszt), where Choni becomes the devil himself. In this fantasia quasi sonata, hell is a tragic whirlwind, and the passionate impulses transcribe the unhappy passion of Paolo and Francesca. Then a new, devastating contrast. The centrepiece of the second part of Debussy's Images for piano, Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, introduce another Paradise, where Orient meet ancient Greece, both dreamed and fantasised; the French composer captures in the very sounds of the Balinese gamelan our sense of wonder when looking at ancient temples. The culmination point of the program, L'Isle Joyeuse, speaks more of the joy linked to budding love. In this highly virtuosic piece inspired by Watteau (Embarquement pour Cythere, 1718), just as much a fictional reduction of a ballet with orchestra, Debussy achieves a unique sensual energy, truly erotic. Gargoyles (like the grimacing stone figures of the cathedrals) then revive the evil spirits, in a slightly percussive style that evokes Prokofiev and even more the Sonatas of Roger Sessions (1896-1985). The American composer Lowell Liebermann here links together four short, highly expressive pieces, where the sarcasm of the introduction (Presto) or the final Presto feroce coexists with the ether in the Allegro moderato. The gentle limpidity of Silvestrov's Postludium finally ends this program where Dmytro Choni, with his ever-lively and incisive fingers, becomes above all, like Charon on the Styx, a ferryman "between the worlds".

Sonya Yoncheva has long been fascinated by George Sand. Writer, dramaturg, and literary critic, a journalist and an intellectual, the lover of Alfred de Musset and then of Frederic Chopin as well as being a friend of Franz Liszt, Pauline Viardot and Marie Dorval, and beyond her remarkable destiny as a woman blessed with the "glorious and complete independence" which in her age was reserved solely for men, Sand embodies the entire spirit, the essence even, of the 19th century. It is in the first place her boldness, approaching the intrepid, which appeals to the Bulgarian soprano. Sand showed daring for all of her life, and what a fount of inspiration her writings are, on all kinds of topics. Whether political, social, cultural, artistic, how pertinent they are, and how their vibrant, trenchant language dazzles! George Sand loved the arts unconditionally. And so this programme opens the doors to us, revealing her artistic universe and bringing her passions to life. Her house, her kitchen, her salon stir into action again, in this soiree in the company of her friends, these artists to whom she was so close and who, respectfully and with tender affection, listened to each other, conversed, laughed, and celebrated in music and poetry. Here, George Sand do not sing, nor do she play an instrument. So Sonya Yoncheva portrays her by reading some of her words. They bear witness to the sparkling, glittering nature of the "Lady of Nohant". What surprises there are throughout this recital! If the passionate urges of Alfred de Musset, fervent or, as so often, disappointed, nourish this journey equally, so the sumptuous Nuit de decembre by Ruggero Leoncavallo, the more hedonistic examples of Pauline Viardot, these two Mazurkas by Chopin transformed into melodies with Louis Pomey's slightly schoolboyish texts, or more obscurely the "medley" of Les Bohemiennes, marrying diverse motifs, of Brahms's Hungarian Dances, also delight heart and mind - a beautiful homage to the innate music that derives from folk and popular traditions, something that George Sands so frequently and tenderly extolled.

Between Lise de la Salle and Franz Liszt, is an affinity, one could say a love story, that has lasted for more than twenty years. For her second album, recorded in 2005 when she was only seventeen, she had him paired with Bach (V5006). Six years later (V5267, 2011), she recorded her first all-Liszt album, a rather dark disc, where the tragic and relentless Funerailles and Apres une lecture du Dante rubbed shoulders with the heartbreaking nudity of Nuages gris and Lacrymosa. Unrolling this Ariadne's thread once again, the French pianist now defends two of the greatest masterpieces, surprisingly complementary, of the most cosmopolitan composer of European Romanticism. A summing up of Lisztian art, the Sonata in B minor, reserved for pianists with wrists of steel and hearts of gold, shines with a particular glow in the piano repertoire of the 19th century. Sensitive to the myriad nuances of this splendid fresco structured as an uninterrupted movement, Lise de la Salle balances here with astonishing ease the dramatic impact of Goethe's Faust and the contemplative lyricism present in the tonal landscapes of the Annees de pelerinage. The assiduous frequentation of the Lisztian universe will have facilitated the in-depth analysis of the Sonata, which quickly became for the pianist an integral part of her artistic persona?and yet, what a maelstrom of sounds! The final part of the Harmonies poetiques et religieuses, the Cantique d'amour, played here as an escape towards the light, introduces the Reminiscences de Don Juan, a fantasy in the form of variations which, through it's overwhelming emotional power, works as an answer to the Sonata. A great admirer of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Lise de la Salle restores the nobility of this now rarely performed work. Liszt takes up famous motifs from Mozart's opera, in an aesthetic full of passion, in which he magnifies his striking art of contrasts and his dazzling virtuoso writing. By placing these Reminiscences as a mirror of the Sonata, Lise de la Salle gets as close as possible to Lisztian genius at the same time as she refines her art of dark atmospheres.

Sometimes, dreams come true. For Francesco Tristano, the dream was twofold: first a desire to project his art in the future by devoting himself to one of the most incontestably timeless figures in the history of music, Johann Sebastian Bach. This profound desire fuelled the creation of intothefuture, Francesco Tristano's very personal line of recordings, where sounds morph into an abstract and subtly poetic photographic imagery, which is found in the booklets. This first of these recordings, dedicated to the six Partitas (BWV 825 to BWV 830) is a perfect illustration of this concept. For this pianist from Luxembourg, this collection constituted the starting point of his patient exploration of Bach's work. In fact, it also represents the composer's supreme achievement in the genre of the keyboard dance suite. Also known as the "German suites", to differentiate them from the two collections of "English" (BWV 806 to BWV 811) and "French" (BWV 812 to BWV 817) suites, the 6 Partitas belong to the rare compositions that Bach had published during his lifetime, as the first part of the Clavier-ubung - from 1726 to 1730, then all six in 1731. Composed separately, probably one after the other, these six suites, an infinite kaleidoscope of moods, were to embody his plural and abundant art, in a supreme synthesis of the tastes of the time. With their lively tempos (Partita III, Fantasia; Partita I, Allemande; Partita V, Tempo di Minuetto; Partita VI, Corrente), their very lively phrasing (Partita I, Gigue; Partita II, Capriccio; Partita VI, Toccata; Partita II, Courante), the six Partitas according to Francesco Tristano, a musician with an inexhaustible vivacity of mind, celebrate life everywhere. This impression of a whirlwind, this sense of movement are irresistible! Once again, Francesco Tristano is here in a class of his own. 24 SEPTEMBRE 2024

In December 2017, in Fribourg, mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti met lutenist Vincent Fluckiger and multi-instrumentalist, engineer and producer Fred Chappuis. Under the guidance of director Wouter Van Looy, they created a fascinating show for performances at the Lucerne Theatre the following spring, which mixed the melancholic songs of John Dowland (1563-1626) with the sounds of electronic music. All three originally came from rock/metal/punk, and Wouter Van Looy would rekindle in each of them a profound desire to explore new horizons. Following the success of the Lucerne evenings, the mezzo-soprano engaged her two colleagues, now friends, a few months later in the pursuit of a common adventure, which was sealed in the idea of Melankhôlia: Dowland's captivating songs would now be joined by well-known pop songs rearranged in the same spirit, where the archlute or the modern electric guitar coexist with a Moog, percussion or a mellotron, enveloping the voice. Two eras speak to each other, and finally merge into each other. Several themes structure this intensely lyrical journey, carried by the lascivious voice of Marina Viotti: love and it's illusions, evoked in One by U2 as well as in Fairwell, Too Fair by Dowland, hopes (Die Not Before Thy Day by Dowland or Joga by Bjork) as well as death (Born to Die by Lana Del Rey preceded by In Darkness Let Me Dwell by Dowland) or redemption (Flow My Tears by Dowland). By infusing the spirit of her youth, these early years when she wrote texts and songs for her metal band, in her present, which sees her defending the most beautiful roles of the great lyric repertoire, Marina Viotti reveals a very intimate part of herself. More than a journey across the genres and over the centuries, "In Darkness Through the Light" is in fact the story of a life journey, a fight for life and against darkness. In the spring of 2019, the mezzo-soprano was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, of which she recovered completely. The shadows gone, Marina Viotti was able to confide her secret, with total openness. It is therefore this experience that informs "In Darkness Through the Light", a project that accompanied her healing process, and which became the album of her liberation.

Paul Huang and Helen Huang have been exploring the repertoire for violin and piano for now a decade. As a way of celebrating their fruitful and enriching collaboration, they have devised this album as an ingenious game of mirroring. The title of this second album for naïve is not accidental, as the two musicians offer highly diverse perspectives. This new recording focuses first on two sonatas composed by Francis Poulenc (1942-1943) and Sergei Prokofiev (1938-1946) during the second world war of the 20th century, respectively at the opening and closing of this album. Between these two pieces, Spiegel i'm Spiegel by Arvo Part (1978), a page with ethereal lines, a moment of introspection and calm that becomes a space for contemplation and reflection necessary in this otherwise dense and angular programme.