A journey through passion, vision, and sensuality, this album brings together three luminous works for voice and orchestra. At it's heart is Ernest Chausson's Poeme de l'amour et de la mer, Op. 19-a sweeping, late-Romantic meditation on love and loss, where human emotion dissolves into the vastness of the sea. Benjamin Britten's Les illuminations, Op. 18, follows with electric intensity, setting Rimbaud's vivid, surreal poetry in music that is both incisive and radiant. The program closes with Camille Saint-Saens' rare and intimate Extase, a delicate song of rapture and surrender. Tenor Edgaras Montvidas brings refined lyricism and emotional depth to this richly poetic repertoire, joined by the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (for the Chausson), and conductor Modestas Pitrenas. An exploration of love, language, and longing-where music becomes poetry, and poetry sings. Recorded at Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall June 2021

Sofia Gubaidulina was an iconoclastic maverick whose work is synonymous with unprecedented openness and autonomy. The rarely performed Revue Music for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band is an eclectic subversive masterpiece that caused a scandal at it's premiere in the USSR in 1978 - the official reaction to which posed a considerable threat to Gubaidulina's entire family. It contrasts greatly with the sensual piano concerto Introitus, heard here in the revised version created by the composer in collaboration with Alice Di Piazza. Worlds collide in Figures of Time - a work that combines chaotic effects with unifying harmony. The programme also includes the Chaconne for solo piano with it's atmospherically dense process of transformation.

Most of Beethoven's ten violin sonatas were composed within a time span of no more than 6 years (1797-1803), with the exception of the last one, op. 96, which he began in 1812, taking probably a further 3 years to revise to his satisfaction. This means the set as a whole represents a relatively young Beethoven, though his development from the early Op. 12 sonatas to the "Kreutzer" Op. 47 clearly demonstrates a formidable inner creative force. His cello sonatas, string quartets and symphonies are more evenly spaced throughout his life, but the violin sonatas lack nothing in invention, range of expression and feeling. As so often in Beethoven's early works the intensity of the slow movements stands out.

Soprano Rowan Pierce joins Florilegium and Ashley Solomon in Tra le fiamme - a new recording of secular cantatas by G. F. Handel and J. S. Bach. Tra le fiamme is one of Handel's Italian style cantatas, combining vocal virtuosity with deep emotional expressivity. Bach's cantata Ich bin in mir vergnugt is an elegant example of one of his secular cantatas. This cantata stands out for it's reflective exploration of themes of inner peace, contentment, and stoic philosophy - qualities that reflect Bach's interest in moral and philosophical themes outside of his sacred music. Also included here is the final virtuosic Alleluia from Vivaldi's motet In furore iustissimae irae together with instrumental concertos by Vivaldi and Handel.

Spunicunifait is the curious name adopted by a group of five musicians, all of whom have a great deal of experience in chamber music as well as in prestigious orchestras such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; they have founded this ensemble to be able to devote themselves to the in-depth study and period instrument performance of Mozart's six string quintets. Their choice of a name is also a trifle facetious, copying the example set by Mozart in a letter to his cousin Maria Anna Thekla Mozart in which he wrote the three mysterious words "Spuni Cuni fait"; these could mean spun or woven / coney or rabbit / and "made," the past participle of the French verb faire: to make: something woven from rabbit skin, like the shawl his beloved cousin Basle wore in a self-portrait.

Australian pianist Rob Hao makes a striking debut with an album that explores how music from different times and styles can interact and inspire new ideas. At the heart of the recording is the premiere of Palimpsest 571, Hao's original work completing Franz Schubert's unfinished Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor, D. 571. Rather than trying to imitate Schubert's style exactly, Hao embraces the gap between past and present, creating a continuation that respects the mood and mystery of the original fragment while adding a fresh, modern voice. The album also features a set of piano etudes by British composer Alison Kay, whose minimalist and atmospheric pieces invite listeners to experience sound and silence in new ways. Alongside these contemporary works are carefully chosen pieces by Chopin, Schubert, Schubert-Liszt, and Michael Finnissy's challenging English country-tunes. Chopin's final nocturnes showcase his gift for blending long, flowing melodies with delicate harmonies, revealing the emotional depth he reached late in life. Schubert's impromptu and Liszt's piano transcription of Der Muller und der Bach bring vocal storytelling to the piano, highlighting the instrument's expressive power. Finnissy's English country-tunes is a powerful and intense piece that explores English folk traditions with virtuosic energy, moving between moments of lyricism and dramatic intensity. This mix of works demonstrates how composers and performers continue to build on musical traditions, layering new ideas over old, and keeping classical music vibrant and alive. This album offers a rich listening experience that invites reflection on how music evolves -shaped by both history and the creative present.

Bridge Records is pleased to issue the latest recording by Partch Ensemble, the Grammy Award winning new music group specializing in the music and instruments of the iconoclastic American composer Harry Partch. Partch's "The Wayward" in the composer's own words, is "a collection of musical compositions based on the spoken and written words of hobos and other characters-the result of my wanderings in the Western part of the United States from 1935 to 1941." This is the world premiere recording of Partch's complete cycle.

Charles Harford Lloyd (1849-1919) - organist of Gloucester Cathedral and the Chapel Royal, Oxford theologian and concert-organiser, music master at Eton and much more - was one of the most distinguished musicians of Victorian England. The largest part of his output is vocal music, mostly for the church; he composed only a handful of chamber works, often involving the clarinet. He wrote in a light Romantic idiom, where the influence of Brahms is often audible, as with his close friend, Hubert Parry. Lloyd knew how to make the clarinet sing, with one lovely, long-limbed melody after another. This first-ever album of his chamber music rescues a long-forgotten figure from the shadows.

Over the past century or so, composers have tended to see themselves as either traditionalists or modernists. The music of Joel Feigin (born in New York in 1951) bridges both worlds, combining the resources of tonality and atonality with equal relish, naturally extending the styles of the recent past. It's freewheeling energy is often tempered by an elegant restraint, sometimes revealing the warm, humanist impulse behind his sound-world. This first volume of his piano and chamber music follows a lusty piano trio and a moving tribute to a much-missed teacher with four sets of variations, three by Feigin and one an arrangement of Bach, the composer who Feigin says is the root of all his music.

Are 'hits' exclusively associated with modern pop music? Popular successes have roots much deeper in the history of music, spanning various genres and contexts, including music created and shared in private settings, such as homes, as well as in street performances. Certain compositions' extraordinary popularity is attested by widely distributed, copied, and repeatedly republished scores. The innumerable arrangements for other instruments also attest to the extent of the phenomenon. Following the success of their 2002 album Dvorak (LDV101), and once again in association with the Czech instrumental arranger Jiri Kabat, the Talich Quartet invites us to explore Mitteleuropa's folk repertoire. An invitation to dance. Irresistible!

Idil Biret who arrived in Paris at the age of seven and a half, unable to read music but playing Mozart's C major concerto as she will never play better. It was played by a great artist who happened to be a little girl who could not read music. One played her a piece of music once or twice and she knew it all. (Nadia Boulanger, Paris 1973)

Cellist Louise Dubin's new collection of French cello works include pieces by masters Debussy, Faure and Koechlin, side by side with rarities by the lesser known Auguste Franchomme (1808-1884), and contemporary composer Philippe Hersant (b. 1948). Ms. Dubin's last award-winning album was devoted to the compositions of Franchomme. This new recording features both Franchomme's arrangements and original compositions.

After her successful CD "Joy of Bach" (arc17008), the Japanese organist Keiko Nakata presents now a recording of music by Cesar Franck. The symphonic organ music of the romantic era is closely connected to the developments of organ building during the 19th century. Keiko Nakata chooses for her recording the Merklin-Organ of the Cathedral of St. Louis of Blois, on which Franck's markings in the score can be ideally realised. Besides pieces like the Piece Heroique, there are the Three Chorals in the programme. They freely exploit the multiple possibilities of invented choral melodies. This romantic conception leading to the idea of a spiritual concert would later give birth to a new spiritual dimension in music beyond the boundaries of religious offices and rituals. As a result, the liturgical organ embedded with it's Gregorian heritage would step back to allow some space for a new style of organ playing and building to emerge, emulating the great works for piano and orchestra as manifested by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt.

In a time of widespread crisis and social upheaval, this album by the title "In The Spirit of Freedom" by composer and musicologist Joachim Brugge aims above all to emphasize the idea of inspiring subjects - instead of stagnation through mainstream and routine. The idea of freedom naturally forms the indispensable prerequisite for a self-determined life, as shown in the first piece "In The Spirit of Freedom", with references to Ludwig van Beethoven and Walt Whitman. "In The Spirit of Brahms" thematizes an adaptation of individual works by Johannes Brahms, such as some waltzes from Op. 39 and the Violin Concerto, Op. 77. "In The Spirit of History" reflects the seemingly self-evident availability of almost 1000 years of music history in the digital age, with a recourse from the Middle Ages (Perotin) to the 19th century (Edvard Grieg). Finally, "In The Spirit of Fairy Tales" opens up a final perspective on motifs from Finnish fairy tales (in the spirit of Jean Sibelius), with a broad spectrum of fascinating characters, stories and music. The chamber ensemble Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie is conducted by Alexander Drcar, and is supported by soloists Thomas Oberleitner, trumpet, Rodrigo Alegre Vargas, tenor und Monja Heuler, harmonica.

Recorded live at Boston's magnificent Symphony Hall, CORO brings together on one album the Handel and Haydn Society's recordings of Haydn's early Symphonies Nos. 6, 7 & 8. Known as Le matin, Le midi and Le soir, the three works, written shortly after Haydn joined the court of Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy, are amongst the most striking of the composer's early symphonies. Characterised by unusual virtuoso writing across the orchestral ensemble, all three works feature extensive solo passages for the wind, horn and strings, including rare solo writing for the�double bass�and�bassoon, and demonstrate Haydn's emerging skill as a master of symphonic writing.