The unearthing of Telemann's Fantaisies pour la Basse de Viole in 2015 has been the most important discovery for the repertoire of viola da gamba in recent times. The compositions are a compendium of how Italian and French influences permeated the purely German language to create a specific style. Using the genre Fantasia, Telemann shows us a portrait full of audacity, freshness and compositional freedom hitherto unknown. Sara Ruiz plays on an anonymous viola da gamba dated around 1700. She�chooses�to emphasize the rotundness and the beauty of the tone, while her technical skills allow her to create a real drama. She does not hesitate to make use of a nice legato where a pleasant melody is encountered: she makes her instrument sing almost like a cello, i.e. a voice. With her, each Fantasia tells a story, every time a particular and thrilling one.

The illustrious French organ tradition is celebrated in this album of Toccatas and Meditations, including masterpieces drawn from across the repertoire. Charles-Marie Widor was the founding father of the French Organ School, and his Toccata from Symphony No. 5 is a cornerstone of the organ repertoire. The Meditation by his contemporary Louis Vierne is among the highlights of Romantic organ works. Durufle, Boellmann and Guilmant are also represented, as is a beautiful Ravel arrangement. They're played on the magnificent Grenzing organ at Bauernkirche Iserlohn by Dariia Lytvishko - a Ukrainian-born virtuoso and one of the most lavishly gifted organists of her generation.

A project some six years in the making, Latin Connections was originally conceived as a collaborative project with the multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer Clarice Assad. Global Covid restrictions forced us to postpone the recording, by which time Clarice was unavailable. Disappointed though we were, we were delighted to refresh a friendship with the award-winning jazz singer, cellist, pianist, and composer Sara Dowling who brings all these skills and instruments to our new recording. Latin music encompasses a colossal range of styles, many of which have become popular the world over: salsa, samba, tango, cumbia, bossa nova, choro, merengue, rumba, candombe, and baiao, to name but a few. Born out of the cultural trinity of the Spanish and Portuguese presence in South America, African music (courtesy of the slave trade), and the indigenous music and traditions of Latin America, Latin music is as rich and varied as any other musical tradition globally. It's incorporation into rock, pop, and jazz, notably in the USA, has further popularised and developed the many styles which are such a rich part of the cultural identity of South America. - Aquarelle Guitar Quartet.

Santtu conducts Strauss: Ein Heldenleben is the sixth album from Philharmonia Records. Con- ducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, this performance was recorded at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall. PRAISE FOR Santtu conducts Shostakovich: Symphony 10 "Themes from the previous movements are intriguingly revived and intertwined and the sheer energy of Rouvali's onslaught upon the music almost convinces us of the heroism of resistance and endurance, ultimately rewarded by explosive, joyous liberation." - MusicWeb International "The first movement is both atmospheric and flowing, sensitively delineating each stage in the unfolding psychological drama." - Gramophone

Elena Ruehr is one of today's most prolific and acclaimed composer of string quartets whose music has been described as "unspeakably gorgeous" by Gramophone magazine. This latest triptych of works for the genre takes inspiration from much-loved locales in the higher latitudes: the composer's Michigan home, a favourite spot on Cape Cod, and the capital city of Iceland. String Quartet No. 9, "Keweenaw" evokes the small rural town in Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula where Elena grew up. This quartet explores various parts of that world, from native berries, early autumn blizzards, ghost towns and the majestic Lake Superior. String Quartet No. 10, "Long Pond" captures moments throughout the days on a beautiful small lake on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where Elena has spent much time and gathered precious memories: a brightly rising sun, a morning dog walk, sailing on the harbour, a "nor'easter" storm, a lovely yet mysterious full moon rising above and reflecting in the water. String Quartet No. 11, "Reykjavik", pays seasonal homage to Iceland's capitol city, with it's long winter nights, the sun peeking through the haze as spring approaches, greeted with celebrations of singing and dancing for the lighter days ahead. Quartet ES is a foursome of diverse and engaging individuals - Anton Miller and Ertan Torgul, violins; Rita Porfiris, viola; and Jennifer Kloetzel, cello - that come together to create cutting-edge programming, visionary projects and dynamic educational initiatives. A capacious catalogue of commissioned works includes these three by Elena Ruehr.

Dvorak stated elsewhere that he had always remained a simple Bohemian folk musician at heart. Born in 1841, the son of a butcher, he grew up in the countryside. He always heard Bohemian folk tunes, probably even in his mother's womb. Folk music was clearly part of Dvorak's DNA, and a Slavic folklore tone permeates the two works on this CD. 0028948677955 CAVM4867795.2 45383021 .00 17.99 .19 CAVI-MUSIC COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/31/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/27/4445227-3422550.jpg 0 1 N BALLESTRA,JEAN-LUC CARRARA: VOCI DA HEBRON Cristian Carrara is one of the most original Italian composers of his generation. The opera Voci da Hebron ('Voices from Hebron') is set during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Carrara's expressive depiction of this scenario is one in which fear, anger and incomprehension sit side-by-side with the need for communication, at a time when dialogue is difficult and peace is, at times, a mirage. This land that is home to grief and misunderstanding is also a place in which love can survive and ultimately flourish. 730099060370 NXS8660603.2 45383519 .00 19.99 .21 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/10/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/00/4445400-3422659.jpg 9 1 N TETZLAFF,CHRISTIAN ELGAR & ADES: VN CONS Star-violinist Christian Tetzlaff, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor John Storgards present in this album two major British violin concertos written between a century, in 1910 and 2005. Elgar's passionate violin concerto, completed in 1910, is a classical-romantic violin concerto in three movements. This huge and highly emotional work was in the wake of modernism neglected for several decades before entering into standard concerto repertoire. Here Christian Tetzlaff follows the model of the early recordings of Elgar's concerto with substantially quicker tempos compared to most modern recordings, and having a great influence on the impact of the piece. Ades' violin concerto 'Concentric Paths', is already a modern classic and no doubt one of the most important concertos written during this century. With it's very demanding violin part the work has all the elements of a true concerto, allowing the soloist to sing with his instrument. The beauty of this music lies that everything is written so clearly. 761195148020 OND1480.2 45383533 .00 18.99 .27 ONDINE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/03/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/45/4445745-3422683.jpg 155 1 N LEE,WARREN GOUNOD: PNO WORKS During his time in Italy and later in Leipzig, Charles Gounod was drawn by the balance of sonic beauty and proportion to be found in the music of Palestrina and J.S. Bach. He developed an innate desire for simple directness as can be heard in the excerpt from the Messe solennelle de Sainte Cecile and the Meditation sur le premier Prelude de J.S. Bach, now better known as Ave Maria. Gounod's talents for melody and mood painting are demonstrated in his Romances sans paroles, while his sense of wit can be heard in the famous Marche fune'bre d'une marionnette. 747313453474 NXS8574534.2 45383472 .00 19.99 .16 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/10/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/77/4446477-3422665.jpg 19 1 N BRIGGS,SARAH SMALL TREASURES In her first solo recording for AVIE in 2019, Sarah Beth Briggs' performances of music by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms were described as 81 minutes of pianistic Heaven" by International Piano Magazine. In her latest offering, Small Treasures, Sarah returns to two of those composers' greatest sets of miniatures: Schumann's piano cycle Waldszenen and Brahms's 4 Klavierstu�cke, Op.119, his final statement for solo piano. Alongside these, Sarah sets Schumann's much loved Arabeske from earlier in his composing career and the delightfully fleeting Impromptu by his wife Clara, together with her 4 Pie'ces fugitives, much lauded in her lifetime. The remaining 'Treasures' transport the listener to 20th-century France, comparing works by two members of Paris's composing circle 'Les Six' - Francis Poulenc's evocative 3 Novelettes (written across a 30-year time span) and Germaine Tailleferre's Sicilienne. As an encore, Sarah - a former International Mozart Competition winner - ends with a tiny gem by Wolfgang Amadeus: his 1789 Kleine Gigue in G in which light-hearted playfulness mingles with forward-looking chromaticism, miraculously seeming to find common ground with all of the works from the subsequent two centuries included on Small Treasures.

This is an album largely consisting of solo violin works by Paganini, but also with two Paganini works for violin and piano. Argentine violinist Tomas Cotik, who has made a number of recordings for Centaur, is the ideal performer for these works.

Chicago's grand tenor man Earle Lavon "Von" Freeman Sr. (October 3, 1923 - August 11, 2012) was a revered and most loved elder of the jazz scene in the Windy City. Von has been on producer Nils Winther's top priority list of the musicians he wanted to record. The dream came true in the late spring of 1992, when Von was 72. Von's powerful tenor is tastefully supported by his trusted rhythm section of Jodie Christian (piano), Eddie de Haas bass) and Wilbur Campbell (drums).. "This is an excellent introduction to the Chicago style of tenor playing and to four extremely creative musicians at their peaks." (Cadence)

Galina Ustvolskaya was a profoundly original composer, unrivalled in the extremism of her style, who was largely ignored during her lifetime. Fiercely independent, Ustvolskaya created highly expressive, even violent music that sounds like the work of no other composer and reveals no distinct influences, while often being imbued with religiosity or spirituality. Her music has been described as having the 'narrowness of a laser beam capable of piercing metal'. Only after her death was Ustvolskaya's original and uncompromising talent finally recognised. Christian Karlsen and the London Philharmonic Orchestra present here Ustvolskaya's five symphonies. While the first appears superficially traditional (it is the only one for full symphony orchestra), it features two boys singing - through microphones, in a chanting manner - texts that speak of poverty, racism and injustice. Symphonies Nos 2 to 5 break decisively with the traditional mould; each consists of a single, rather short movement, in the manner of theatrical rituals. Written for instrumental combinations as varied as they are unusual, these symphonies became increasingly intransigent as their instrumentation contracted further and further, down to just a handful of instruments in the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies. A solo voice appears sporadically, not necessarily for singing, but rather to verbalise a prayer - a prayer asking for forgiveness but not for a better life.

'Little Wanderer', from William Blake's dream world, seemed the perfect title for an album in which we are surrounded by myriad landscapes in songs by Benjamin Britten, Imogen Holst and Daniel Kidane. Since meeting on our first day at the Royal College of Music, we have long enjoyed programming Britten's masterful folk song reimaginings, and we adore the texts and music in his powerful Hardy cycle, Winter Words. It has been a joy to discover songs by Imogen Holst, Britten's close friend and assistant, and we are proud to be able to make the first recording of Dan's Songs of Illumination, commissioned for us by Leeds Lieder in 2018. For over a decade, song in English has played a major part in our musical lives and performing relationship, and we are delighted to present this programme together.

Haydn's Piano Trios were intended for domestic use but the composer was typically inventive in subverting expected norms, bringing striking changes of mood, the use of unusual keys, and rich ornamentation to the supposedly placid world of the trio. Haydn also had a fondness for dance patterns, as his use of the polonaise in this volume shows; and he exploits the technical prowess of his pianist dedicatee, Maria Theresa nee Hohenfeld, Dowager Princess Esterhazy in Trio No. 20 in B flat major. The Trios are played by the three First Prize winners of the prestigious Enescu Competition (Bucharest, 2014) who bring a fusion of historical insight and Romantic sensibility that offers a fresh perspective on Haydn.

Franco-Swiss violist Mathis Rochat presents British repertoire for viola and orchestra, pairing William Walton's well-known concerto with rarely recorded works by Herbert Howells and Arthur Benjamin. Featuring violinist Abigel Kralik, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under the direction of Howard Griffiths, the program highlights romantic styles and lesser-known voices within the first half of 20th-century British music.

These two quartets were written in the summer of 2021. There was a pandemic going on, and I spent most of the summer in my apartment, reading books and feeling the momentum of life melting away in the heat. Early that summer, I read Haruki Murakami's first novel, "Hear the Wind Sing," and in the introduction he tells an anecdote from a baseball game: "In the bottom of the first inning, Hilton slammed Sotokoba's first pitch into the left field for a clean double. The satisfying crack when the bat met the ball resounded throughout Jingu Stadium. Scattered applause rose around me and in that instant, for no reason and based on no grounds whatsoever, it suddenly struck me: I think I can write a novel." This story had an effect on me similar to the crack of the bat, as I'd never written concert music but had always wanted to. My only idea of how to start composing was to improvise at the piano. There are parts of the piano quartet that are direct transcriptions of these sessions, such as the cadenza-like development section of the first movement. But even the most structured-sounding passages began as improvisations before being arranged into an almost naively typical sonata structure. The piano quartet, while clearly an "early" piece, introduced me to my own language, and got me addicted to composing. I started writing Love and Levity, my first string quartet, immediately after finishing the piano quartet. The Renaissance Quartet wasn't even really a thing yet, but I knew who I was writing it for. I consider the piece to be, at it's core, Beethovenian: in it's thematic and structural tautness, but even more so in it's motion towards excess-staying on an idea for too long, playing something too fast or too slow, too quiet or too loud. The title came from this anachronistic romanticism, this desire to talk about big feelings, but always with a bit of humor, always a bit weird. Jazz and contemporary songwriting are as important to this music as the classical tradition. The scherzo movement, "Hermit's Waltz," is a jazz piece, complete with a transcription of an actual solo taken by guitarist Jacob Drab. The outer movements feature chords, melodies, and instrumental techniques taken from American folk musics such as rock, bluegrass, and the blues. These musics are not only emblems of New York, the city I call home, but contain the DNA of virtually all contemporary music. I leave it to you to discover what any of that means, and how it all came out. I want to thank my quartet mates, as well as Valerie, Brian, and Han, for making this music so much better than it is on the page.

The works of violinist and composer Nicolaus Richter de Vroe (*1955) have been and are regularly performed by the most renowned organisers and festivals of new music. The musician began his training at the Special School for Music in Dresden, now known as the Sachsisches Landesgymnasium fur Musik Carl Maria von Weber. After studying the violin at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, he performed with various chamber music, improvisation and experimental ensembles. In 1980, he joined the Staatskapelle Berlin and completed his composition studies with Friedrich Goldmann and Georg Katzer at the Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic. In 1982, he founded the Ensemble for New Music Berlin (East), which quickly became an important platform for contemporary music in the GDR. From the mid-1980s onwards, Richter de Vroe performed his own works and appeared as a performer at all ARD radio stations, as well as at international festivals. In 1988 he joined the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and, one year later, founded the XSEMBLE Munich - an ensemble characterised by experimental programming and stylistic openness. In 1996, he co-founded the Munich Society for New Music, dedicated to promoting contemporary music. Alongside his work as a composer and performer, Richter de Vroe has been a regular guest at Goethe Institutes worldwide since 1994, delivering lectures and giving portrait concerts and presentations of his work. In 2008 he was admitted to the Saxon Academy of Arts. Richter de Vroe's Violin Concerto was composed between 2018 and 2020 as a commission from musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk, kindly supported by the Friends of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. The world premiere, recorded on this CD, was performed by Ilya Gringolts and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Johannes Kalitzke on October 28, 2022 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. - The initial inspiration for Richter de Vroe's Violin Concerto came from Ilya Gringolts' interpretation of Gyorgy Ligeti's Violin Concerto. The concerto begins with an introduction, followed by a first cadenza accompanied by individual instruments in a drone-like manner. This is followed by the first nocturne, which features sounds reminiscent of natural lutes. In the so-called 'Main Movement', "things get pretty crazy! There's a real frenzy with lots of momentum and variety, not to mention a lot of - how shall I put it - 'nasty surprises'!" (Richter de Vroe) Avenir for organ, choir and orchestra was also commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk in 2013/14. This CD features the recording of the world premiere on June 6, 2014, performed by Wolfgang Mitterer on the organ and accompanied by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Johannes Kalitzke.

The works of violinist and composer Nicolaus Richter de Vroe (*1955) have been and are regularly performed by the most renowned organisers and festivals of new music. The musician began his training at the Special School for Music in Dresden, now known as the Sachsisches Landesgymnasium fur Musik Carl Maria von Weber. After studying the violin at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, he performed with various chamber music, improvisation, and experimental ensembles. In 1980, he joined the Staatskapelle Berlin and completed his composition studies with Friedrich Goldmann and Georg Katzer at the Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic. In 1982, he founded the Ensemble for New Music Berlin (East), which quickly became an important platform for contemporary music in the GDR. From the mid-1980s onwards, Richter de Vroe performed his own works and appeared as a performer at all ARD radio stations, as well as at international festivals. In 1988 he joined the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and, one year later, founded the XSEMBLE Munich - an ensemble characterised by experimental programming and stylistic openness. In 1996, he co-founded the Munich Society for New Music, dedicated to promoting contemporary music. Alongside his work as a composer and performer, Richter de Vroe has been a regular guest at Goethe Institutes worldwide since 1994, delivering lectures and giving portrait concerts and presentations of his work. In 2008 he was admitted to the Saxon Academy of Arts. Richter de Vroe's composition TETRA?b IV for four soloists and orchestra was commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk in 2002. The world premiere, which is recorded on this CD, features Isao Nakamura (percussion), Irvine Arditti, Mike Svoboda (trombone), Isabeella Beumer (voice) and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Rundel, and took place on November 15, 2002 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. - Although the large orchestra is joined by four soloists, the work is not a concerto or concerto grosso. The solo parts are so distinct that it would be challenging to have them compete in a concert setting. They also appear successively, each characterising a longer section of the work with their own style, and they can only be heard performing together towards the end. The vocalist's solo is based on a poem by the experimental Russian poet Daniil Kharms. Richter de Vroe's artistic affinity with Kharms' thinking is expressed in the title TETRA?b IV - the Russian word "Tetra", in which only the last letter is written in Cyrillic, means "notebook" - as well as in the composer's experimental approach to the text. Shibuya Movements for orchestra was also commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk in 1991/92. This CD features a recording of the world premiere on May 15, 1992 by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Cristobal Halffter, performed in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. Euforia for orchestra was composed in 2009, and it's world premiere on October 31, 2009 by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons also took place in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz.