To mark the 50th anniversary of Noël Coward's death, celebrated musicians and regular Signum artists Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence and Joseph Middleton join forces for this album of works by Coward and his contemporaries. Featuring songs such as Parisian Pierrot and The Man I Love, the album comprises of a collection of solos, duets and instrumental songs by composers such as Ned Rorem, Liza Lehmann, William Walton, and Benjamin Britten.

Anne Warthmann, soprano is accompanied by Hyowon Chi, flute, Arthur Stockel, clarinet and Naji Hakim at the historic STAHLHUTH-JANN ORGAN at St. Martin’s Church, Dudelange , Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, in a program including the following world premiere recordings of Naji Hakim’s works : Abana for soprano and organ (2019) - Assalamu for soprano and organ (2019) - Our Lady's Minstrel (Prelude for clarinet and organ, Three poems for soprano and organ, Dance for clarinet and organ) (2013) - Adoration for soprano, flute and organ (2015) - Römisches Triptychon for soprano and organ (2010).

This will be the 5th NAJI HAKIM PLAYS NAJI HAKIM organ CD released by SIGNUM Classics (visit https://signumrecords.com/product-category/artists/naji-hakim/) . It will include the following world premiere recordings of Naji Hakim's works at the historic STAHLHUTH-JANN ORGAN at St Martin’s Church, Dudelange , Grand-Duché de Luxembourg : Gregoriana (2003) - Bogurodzica (2018) – Prière (2020) - Villancico aragonés (2018) - Carnaval (2014) - Sindbad (2014) - Korean Prelude (2014) - Cantilena (2016) - Trois Paraphrases sur Ave maris stella (2003) - O sacrum convivium (2018) - Tanets (2019).

"I sense a deep humanity in Dvorák's music. He was a great master of orchestration, and he composed unusually beautiful melodies and harmonies. But at the forefront he always presents honesty and generosity. And when we listen to this music, this penetrates deep into our hearts. I consider Dvorák's Violin Concerto to be unique, and it occupies a very special place among all of the violin concertos of this period. Behind its creation lies a very unusual story. The composition dates back to 1879, but its premiere did not take place until 1883, exactly four years later. The reason for this was that the concerto was dedicated to Joseph Joachim, who repeatedly requested a number of changes in the piece. The story subsequently ended in such a way that Joachim, despite the changes and his years of collaboration with Dvorák, ignored the piece when it was completed, leaving it to be premiered instead by Czech violinist František Ondrícek."
-Mikhail Pochekin

Following their acclaimed mix-tape series on Signum Classics, Earthcycle is the fifth album from Orchestra of the Swan and David Le Page. Earthcycle is an innovative and timely project which finds a compelling way to engage with humanity’s most urgent threat. Through three initial performances, a recording and a film, Earthcycle contem- plates our impact on Earth’s environment and the disruption of its natural rhythms. To celebrate the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons they have commissioned a new version from our Associate Artist, baroque/jazz musician and composer David Gordon which is interspersed with traditional folk songs related to the theme of the seasons and performed by singer Jackie Oates. Earthcycle highlights the 21st century’s greatest concern whilst celebrating nature and our place within it.

The largest part of the output of the Hamburg-born composer and writer Walter Niemann (1876–1973), a student of both Humperdinck and Reinecke, is piano music: an astonishing 1,000 or so pieces, divided into 189 opus numbers. Most of them are lyrical miniatures in a warm and approachable late-Romantic style, some evoking the music of the past. Occasionally, though, as in Hamburg, a recollection of scenes from his childhood, a degree of mild dissonance indicates his desire to stay true to his memories of growing up in a port city.

Pastoral Reflections is a contemporary exploration on what the concept of ‘Pastoral’ means to us in this time of climate crisis. It features classical string sextet alongside field recordings, electronic bass & angular beats, centered around Gabriel Prokofiev’s contemporary response to Beethoven's 250 year old Pastoral Symphony.

The Album opens with the original first movement of Beethoven’s famous symphony (arranged for sextet) - reminding listeners of our less troubled relationship with nature 250 years ago - before moving on to the modern beats of Prokofiev’s recent composition Breaking Screens, which explores ideas of consumerism, digital life and impending crisis. The programme climaxes with 5 movement 'Pastoral Reflections' which echoes Beethoven’s symphonic narrative, but from a contemporary perspective.

Taking on the bold freedom of the skylark, Chinese pipa virtuoso Gao Hong and flamenco guitarist Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde fly together from ancient Asian dynasties, through the Thar desert to Andalusia, harmoniously combining cultures as the East meets West.

What do you associate with the term “reflection”? Do you think of the physical phenomena in the “rebound” of light, sound, and warmth, or do you define the word as a psychological process of mental consideration and critical review? Kathrin Inbal-Bogensberger and Tatiana Liakh take inspiration from the reflective observation of a musical work’s structure and genesis and from biographical features of its composer’s life. At the same time, the physical aspects of reflection are important to the work’s exponents if the acoustics of the performance venue are to bring out the full effect of a composition. Notably, the mirror image or inversion as a fully developed form of reflection is a frequently employed musical technique at all periods. The space of time in which this recording was made was shaped by the continuing Covid pandemic and the early stages of the Ukraine war and demanded self-reflective qualities of its performers in their identity as interpretative artists. The two artists accordingly saw the title of the recording, “Reflections,” as a guiding thread governing the players of the works, the works themselves, and the works’ composers.

Christopher Glynn continues his Lieder in English series by joining three of today’s foremost singers to perform Robert Schumann’s best-loved song cycles in new English versions by Jeremy Sams – a new way to encounter and enjoy some of the most romantic and atmospheric songs ever composed. ‘Schumann is one of music’s great storytellers – and never more so than in the song cycles of 1840. These vivid new translations by Jeremy Sams recreate the immediacy and intimacy of his storytelling for modern English-speaking listeners, offering a new perspective on these famous songs of loneliness and love, joy and sorrow, marriage and separation.’ – Christopher Glynn

Santtu conducts Stravinsky is the third album from Philharmonia Records featuring two incredible works by Igor Stravinsky - the complete Petrushka (1947 version), and the Firebird Suite (1945 version) - conducted by Principal Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, these two works were recorded at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in 2023.

American Chamber Music

John D. Gottsch (*1950) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and shortly afterward his family moved to Florida. He spent his youth in the lake country of Florida, swimming with alligators and always looking down when in woods or a swamp to avoid rattlesnakes and water moccasins. He traveled many of the rivers of the state which would begin in the back country and eventually empty into the Gulf or the Atlantic. These explorations of Florida gave him an enduring love for the beauty and wildlife of the state. Gottsch now splits his time between Baltimore and Key West. He has been a lifelong composer, and his compositions reflect his deep appreciation of the outdoors.

Their third duo album on Signum Classics, husband and wife Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung unite to bring an album of French works by Debussy and Ravel in versions for piano duo and four hands. With arrangements by Dutilleux and Ravel himself key works include ‘Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune’ for four hands and La valse for two pianos.

Continuing their project to record all the Shostakovich String Quartets, award winning artists the Carducci Quartet return to Signum Classics for their third album of string quartets: String Quartet No. 9 in E flat major and String Quartet No. 15 in E flat minor, Op. 144.

Praise for SIGCD559 Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 1, 2 & 7
4 Star Performance, 4 Star Recording, "Beautiful honed" – BBC Music Magazine

The two towering masterpieces of the piano quintet genre on this disc were written seventy years and a thousand miles apart, but for all this, they are closely related – Marina Frolova Walker.

Signum artists Peter Donohoe and the Sacconi Quartet join forces to bring piano quintets by Sergey Taneyev and Robert Schumann in their latest album. Their performances of Taneyev’s spectacular Piano Quintet in early 2020 were received with universal acclaim. This resulting album recording felt inevitable, coupling the Taneyev with Schumann’s earlier quintet, itself of such significance to Sergey Taneyev.

For all its traditional ties, Stravinsky's music continues to have a shockingly modern effect on many listeners even today. In his music, praise of God is formulated in tones entirely different from those expected by music lovers schooled in the romantic tradition. Stravinsky did not compose "emotional" or "expressive" religious music but sought objectivity, archaic prototypes, and traditions of timeless value, presenting these elements as if under microscopic enlargement.

Toivo Kuula (1883–1918) is one of the many composers who died at a tragically young age – 35 in his case, the result of an alcohol-fuelled pub brawl. The striking quality of the music he wrote during his short life points to the immensity of the loss not only to Finnish culture but to music more generally – as this first album of two, presenting his entire output of songs for solo voice and piano, makes abundantly clear. The range of moods captured here is striking, from cheery folksongs to dark existentialist contemplations of the meaning of life and death. The most passionate of them generate an operatic intensity in their short span, in a style that balances directness of expression and rich late-Romantic harmonies.

Leroy Anderson (1908-1975); John Rutter (b.1945)Victor Herbert (1859-1924); Englebert Humperdinck (1854-1921)Robert Chilcott (b. 1955); Cesar Franck (1822-1890); et al Eton College Chapel ChoirRalph Allwood, conductorDavid Goode, organ Anderson: A Christmas Festival; Musical Sleigh Ride; Traditional:Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Victor Herbert: March of the WoodenSoldiers; Bob Chilcott: Hey Now!; Cesar Franck: Panis Angelicus;John Rutter: Twelve Days of Christmas; Humperdick: Sandman's Song; Evening Prayer; John Williams: Somewhere in my Memory;Waldteufel: Skater's Waltz; Meakins: Penguin Song; Lane: Sleighbell Serenade; Britten: This Little Babe; Harrison: Christmas Hope;Koschat: Scheewalzer; etc.

In his second solo piano recital disc for Signum, this release further demonstrates Alessio Bax's dazzling skill and flair in performance and interpretation - this time with Rachmaninov's piano works. The programme is centered around the Preludes op.23, but takes in a broad selection of his other studies, etudes, melodies and transcriptions - in performance, Bax describes the programme as being a collection of 'visions and landscapes'.

The Italian-born pianist and Leeds competition winner Alessio Bax returns with his third solo recital disc for Signum. His programme surveys a selection of highlights from Brahms' pianistic output, charting his development from the early lyrical collection '4 Ballades' (1854) through to the 'eight perfect gems' that are the 8 Klavierstücke Op.76 (1871-78). Bax also tackles Brahms' fiendish set of 'Variations on a Theme of Pagainini, Op.35', which Bax describes in the programme notes as one of 'the most fearsome works ever written for piano'.