French-Hungarian pianist Suzana Bartal joins Sebastien Rouland and the Saarlandische Staatsorchester in this release of two warhorses of the Romantic repertoire, Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor and Camille Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor. Although not successful at it's premiere with the composer at the piano, Saint-Saens' 2nd went on to be beloved by the public, and is probably the most played of his 5 concertos for piano. Very few pieces of music are as iconic as the only concerto Grieg ever completed: his famous Piano Concerto in A minor. Liszt famously sight read and lavished praise on it when it was written in 1870, and it has been a perennial favourite since then.

In 1919, the cellist Marix Loevensohn commissioned a duo sonata from Henriette Bosmans for one of his recitals. Bosmans delivered-and in doing so, opened the "cello-focused" chapter of her early oeuvre, soon followed by two concertos, a Po�me with orchestra (555 694-2), and several works with piano accompaniment. Inspired partly by Loevensohn and partly by her friend Frieda Belifante, what emerged was a collection that testifies to a talent as self-assured as it is sensitive: The sonata's imposing outer movements frame tender lyricism in the spirit of Brahms and Debussy-like splashes of color; the three Impressions flirt with various eras and landscapes; the Nocturne for cello and harp luxuriates in dreamy excess-and the sensitive spirit melts away in blissful surrender

The wife of a duke resists the advances of a powerful lecher and is "punished" by being cast adrift at sea. A well-meaning overseer of a mining operation rescues the shipwrecked woman and, under a different name, shelters her as his niece for ten years. At last, the duke-widowed for a second time-arrives at the place of her exile. They are reunited, and the villain meets his well-earned fate... Nothing new, one might think. Yet L'inganno felice ("The Fortunate Deception"), this one-act opera first performed in Venice in early 1812, is so brimming with Rossini's most fiery spirit that we forget the familiar plot entirely over the course of it's roughly 90-minute runtime: it ignites and sparkles, glitters and whirls with the most beautiful melodies, the most tingling rhythms, and the most furious orchestral surges the master of The Barber of Seville was capable of. The festival was far from the only one to be enthralled!

The programme Schonheit und Staatsversagen (Beauty & State Failure) brings together music and text to explore the contrasts of life in Bavaria around 1800 - between city and countryside, wealth and poverty, education and illiteracy. The vivid reports of civil servant Joseph von Hazzi reveal a little-known, often harsh rural reality, full of struggle but also raw, sometimes comical pleasures. In contrast, songs by Munich composers like Josephine Lang, Franz Lachner and Lindpaintner - alongside Schumann, Leopold Mozart and Haydn - paint an idealised, emotional image of alpine life. Though shaped by different worlds, both perspectives reflect timeless human experience. This album opens up new perspectives on the past - touching, surprising, and full of musical individuality. And always, of course, with Alma!

In this programme, 'Solomon's Knot' is dedicated to the popular hunting cantata BWV 208. Solomon's horn players are also given plenty to do in the 1st Brandenburg Concerto and the F major Mass - the bridge from the sacred to the secular is easily bridged.

Winner of the 2009 ARD International Music Competition, violinist Hyeyoon Park has made a name for herself as a soloist and chamber musician, performing with the likes of Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Kian Soltani, Timothy Ridout and Benjamin Grosvenor. On her first album for Linn, Silenced, she partners Gergely Madaras and WDR Sinfonieorchester in a beautiful programme that showcases two composers who were at odds with the system in place. Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto was banned for it's 'formalist distortions' and only premiered in 1955 after Stalin's death. Refusing to join the Nazi-aligned Kultuurkamer, Dutch composer Henriette Bosmans' work was banned. Her Concert Piece for Violin and Orchestra, composed in grief, is introspective and bitter in tone. A youthful academic exercise, Shostakovich's Variations Op. 3 brings the album to a rumbustious end.

Maurice Durufle (1902-1986) was a French composer, organist, and teacher renowned for his meticulous craftsmanship and deeply spiritual music. A student of Charles Tournemire and Louis Vierne, Durufle inherited the rich French symphonic organ tradition, which he blended with Gregorian chant and impressionist harmony to create a unique and transcendent style. Durufle's complete organ music is limited in quantity but monumental in quality. His small output includes only six published organ works, yet each piece reveals an extraordinary depth of expression and technical mastery. Chief among them is the Suite, Op.5 (1932), which consists of three movements: Prelude, Sicilienne, and Toccata. The Toccata, while virtuosic and brilliant, is famously considered one of the most difficult in the repertoire and is sometimes omitted in performance due to it's formidable demands. The Prelude, Adagio et Choral varie sur le th�me du "Veni Creator", Op.4, exemplifies his affinity for Gregorian chant, a hallmark of his style. The Fugue sur le th�me du Carillon des Heures de la Cathedrale de Soissons, Op.12, demonstrates Durufle's love for musical architecture and his capacity for blending modern harmonic language with traditional forms. The Meditation, a posthumously published piece, reveals a more intimate and reflective side of his writing, while the Scherzo, Op.2, composed during his student years, shows early signs of his technical prowess and inventive use of the organ's color palette. Durufle's organ works, though few, have become central to the instrument's repertoire. Their combination of liturgical solemnity, compositional rigor, and sensuous beauty ensure that they continue to resonate with performers and audiences alike. They stand as a testament to a perfectionist who preferred quality over quantity, and whose music remains timeless. Played by Roberto Marini at the magnificent Stahlhuth-Jann organ of St Martin, Dudelange, Luxembourg, the specifications of which are included in the booklet. Roberto Marini made an authoritative recording of the complete organ works by Max Reger on 17 CDs, published on Brilliant Classics.

The Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and it's Music Director Rafael Payare explore Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique and Le carnaval romain - two works that reveal the composer's flair for drama, colour, and psychological intensity. In Symphonie fantastique, Berlioz charts the delirious inner world of an artist undone by passion, hallucination, and obsession. From dreamy reveries to a diabolical witches' sabbath, the symphony is a milestone of musical storytelling. Paired with the exhilarating Le carnaval romain, this album captures Berlioz at his most imaginative and uncompromising. In a special touch, the performance of Symphonie fantastique features OSM's two newly acquired carillon bells - G and C - that expand the orchestra's sonic palette and bring striking brilliance to Berlioz's original vision. After their acclaimed PENTATONE recordings of Mahler's Fifth Symphony (2023), Ruckert-Lieder and Strauss's Ein Heldenleben (2024), and Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande & Verklarte Nacht (2024), Payare and the orchestra continue their compelling exploration of Romantic repertoire with this vivid Berlioz program.

Martinu in the hands of the Pavel Haas Quartet - revealing and captivating / Pavel Haas Quartet, one of the very top ensembles on the worldwide chamber music scene, has been devoting itself to works for quartet by Bohuslav Martinu for a number of years and has given complete presentations of them, including a series of concerts at London's Wigmore Hall. Martinu's deep affinity for the quartet genre is evident throughout his oeuvre: "I can't tell you what pleasure I feel when working with those four voices... I somehow feel at home with the quartet, intimate, happy... Being independent, free, they do as they wish, and despite that, they create harmonious interplay, forming something, a new entity and a harmonic whole". For this recording, they have chosen the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th quartets - four widely different worlds that together create an exciting musical arch spanning more than two decades of the 20th century. The Second String Quartet was Martinu's breakthrough, earning himinternational attention, then in the Third the composer gave himself plenty of room for experimentation. The Fifth (Paris, 1938) is full of emotions and inner tension, while in the post-war Seventh (New York 1947), Martinu seems to have returned to Dvorakian romantic lyricism and melodiousness. In interpretations by the Pavel Haas Quartet, these works are heard with an new, unexpected intensity. Renowned for their rich, colourful sound, fascinating interplay, and feel for details, the Pavel Haas Quartet is able not only to understand Martinu's language, but also to communicate it convincingly and draw listeners into the inner world of one of the greatest Czech composers of the 20th century

Tenor Charles Castronovo celebrates his first Delos solo album with an all Verdi programme which showcases the composer's spellbinding use of theatrical devices. Noble Renegades offers a collection of complete scenes from operas such as Don Carlos, Luisa Miller and I Lombardi which encompass the emotional arc the protagonists experience as the story unfolds, very much epitomizing Verdi's vision of opera as a true "operatic theater". This album shows Verdi's profound influence on Charles's career, featuring roles he has performed all over the world. He is accompanied by "the singer's dream collaborator" Constantine Orbelian and his Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra. Distinguished singers Kristin Sampson, Tomas Pavilionis and Tadas Girininkas, as well as the Kaunas State Choir join in.

Peter Friis Johansson is one of Sweden's most brilliant pianists right now. He has not least won recognition for his cycles of Franz Schubert's complete piano sonatas for more than a decade. Now that he has finally started recording them under the title 'Beyond Schubert' it is with an unusual approach. Not only does he perform from original manuscripts, and even completes unfinished sonatas - he also combines some of the sonatas with high quality works by Swedish composers that somehow are connected to Schubert's. On this first volume, the charming A Major Sonata, Op. 3, by Sweden's grand old lady, Elfrida Andree (1841-1929), is placed next to Schubert's equally charming sonata in the same key (D 664). This album starts, however, with Schubert's big A Minor Sonata (D 845). 'Beyond Schubert' is both a series of recordings and an artistic research project, centered around Franz Schubert and his piano sonatas. As a body of work, the recordings aim to portray Schubert in new and sometimes experimental ways. The word 'Beyond' is therefore central to the project and carries different meanings across it's various components. The research project primarily focuses on Schubert's piano sonata fragments, completing them using diverse methods and aesthetic approaches. Some of these completions will be released as recordings, while others will be available only as sheet music. An online tool will also be developed, allowing anyone to create their own completions of the unfinished sonata movements. The recordings will eventually encompass all of Schubert's finished and fragmentary piano sonatas. Some, as in this recording, will be juxtaposed with other works that have a clear connection to Schubert's music. In this sense, 'Beyond' refers to how Schubert has influenced other composers, and how his style resonates beyond his own compositions.

Composer Daniel Strong Godfrey's�Toward Light�presents three quintets for string quartet and piano, guitar, and cello respectively, showcasing his expressive, finely crafted chamber music. Featuring performances by the Cassatt Quartet with guests pianist Ursula Oppens, guitarist Eliot Fisk, and cellist Nicole Johnson, the works on�Toward Light�are elegantly balanced compositions, cohesive conceptions that are deeply felt.

For over two decades, Matthew Schellhorn has championed the creativity of living composers through commissions and premi�res, bringing new music to a wider audience. This album draws together a selection of eclectic and captivating piano works united through shared interpretative insights and deep artistic connections.

Anatolijus senderovas, one of the most interesting voices in Lithuanian music, passed away in 2019. This production presents all the string trios by the composer, who was awarded the European Composer Prize in 2002. Senderovas had a lifelong friendship with cellist David Geringas, who can be heard here as cellist of the Grand Trio Vilnius. The piano trios represent the most important phases of senderovas' work: Beginning with Piano Trio No. 1, which the 26-year-old wrote while still under the influence of Dmitri Shostakovich's music, to the late works "Song and Dance" and "Pages from a forgotten book," which reveal a composer who has grappled intensively with the roots of his Jewish heritage.

Ilya Shmukler was the winner of the prestigios Geza Anda Competition in Zurich in 2024. On this album he presents a broad variety of composers and musical styles.