Continuing their Magnificat series, and the last album of Andrew Nethsingha's tenure as director, The Choir of St John's College Cambridge present Magnificat 4 with works from composers including Judith Weir, Jonathan Dove, Joanna Forbes L'Estrange and Charles Villiers Stanford. The album also features 'Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis' by Piers Connor Kennedy, commissioned for the choir.

A follow up to their album Vivaldi X2, this new offering from baroque specialists Las Serenissima combines further double concerti by Antonio Vivaldi with works for violin, cello, oboe, recorder and continuo. The previous album received rave reviews including Recording of the Month from BBC Music Magazine. These are some of Vivaldi's most colourful and joyful works, and with director Adrian Chandler at the helm listeners can look forward to further baroque excellence from this dynamic ensemble.

Following their first successful album on Signum Records, the Bevan Family Consort present a collection of Christmas Carols and compositions for Advent. The collection includes familiar works such as Darke's setting of 'In the Bleak Midwinter', which is presented here in a new arrangement by Francis Bevan and was as works newly transcribed for this album such as Palestrina's 'Missa sine nominee a5' and Weelkes 'Gloria in excelsis Deo'. 'Lute-book lullaby' also features, composed by original Bevan Family Choir founder David Bevan. ? THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2023 "[A] lovingly curated selection of works for voices. All received performances of exquisite subtlety and clarity" - The Times

Acclaimed Signum artist Alexandra Dariescu brings a new combination of concertos: Clara Schumann's Concerto in A minor Op. 7 coupled with Grieg's A minor concerto Op. 16. Alexandra Dariescu is a trailblazing pianist who demonstrates fearless curiosity and ground-breaking innovation. As part of her artistic journey, Dariescu has achieved gender equality in her concerto programming for three consecutive seasons, reviving and premiering important works by both male and female composers, championing inclusion and diversity. "I got to know Clara Schumann's Concerto and fell in love with this youthful piece, full of dreams, fiendish virtuosity and a testament to what an innovative performer and composer Clara was, even as a teenager. [Recording these works] It made me realise once again what a responsibility we all have to show both sides of history, to mirror our society in concert programmes and to shine a light on the often-overlooked brilliance of women composers" - Alexandra Dariescu.

His first recital album on Signum Records, internationally acclaimed pianist Melvyn Tan brings a new perspective to Beethoven's Piano Sonatas 30, 31 and 32. Exploration, insight and imagination are vital ingredients in Melvyn Tan's blend of artistic attributes. He established his international reputation with pioneering performances on fortepiano and continues to cast fresh light on music conceived for the piano's early and modern forms.

LOOSENING is a double album of five works by award winning composer GRAHAM FITKIN. Each one has the string quartet at it's core but every work includes it's own additional soloist. The string quartet is a really homogenous group, steeped in history and tradition, in which timbrally similar instruments create a well-honed sound through trusted communication and shared purpose. Each work has clearly defined roles for the two protagonists - quartet and solist. Each piece allows for two perspectives, two distinct approaches to the material and yet each protagonist is affected by the other. Approaches often evolve through the works, perhaps the quartet splits their honed homogeneity to focus more on individual constituents or conversely maybe they subsume the incomer into their group creating a larger group. An album of world premiere recordings: Four of the five works have never been recorded before, and the fifth is a new arrangement (also never recorded). DISTIL won the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for Chamber Works in 2015.

Harmonies of Devotion is both an exploration of the Italian motet repertory of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and a celebration of the devotion to this sacred repertory displayed by English antiquarian collectors of the eighteenth century. Among the works recorded here for the first time are Giovanni Legrenzi's six-voice masterpiece Intret in conspectu tuo, which survives thanks to a copy made in London by Handel, a five-voice Crucifixus by Legrenzi's pupil Antonio Lotti, sent to London's newly formed Academy of Ancient Music, a grand Marian motet written for the Academy by Agostino Steffani, and music by Steffani's teacher Ercole Bernabei, again collected by members of London's antiquarian music clubs. The recording reveals lines of influence between teachers and pupils, and traces the lineage of the dramatic seconda prattica motet back to it's principal source and pioneer: Monteverdi.

For a period of the 20th Century, due to his talent and association with Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears was perhaps the world's most famous classical singer. Pears inspired Britten to create great works of art precisely because Pears was a compelling artist with an exceptional voice, an inquisitive mind, a knowledge of art, history, literature and poetry. They became a self-perpetuating duo, inspiring each other to even greater heights of artistry, technical ability, and emotional certainty. This album of works by Lennox Berkeley, Benjamin Britten, Arthur Oldham, Richard Rodney Bennett and Geoffrey Bush is performed by tenor Robin Tritschler, who is joined by cellist Philip Higham, guitarist Sean Shibe and pianist Malcolm Martineau. Praise for Robin Tritschler and Malcolm Martineau: 4 stars Performance, 4 stars Recording "Robin Tritschler's sweet-toned voice is a continual delight, as is Malcolm Martineau's sparkling, pearly, luminous piano sound" - BBC Music Magazine

This is the first recording not only of Ave Maris stella and Laudate pueri but also the original D-major version of Bononcini's Te Deum. The work has been newly edited here from it's English eighteenth-century sources. These works were written during Bononcini's time in London, and a few months after his arrival the country was ravaged by a smallpox epidemic, which also saw the first introduction of inoculation against disease in England. It's fitting therefore that this recording was made in the early summer of 2021, six months after the COVID-19 vaccination programme began in the UK. Despite the challenges that this caused, director Owen Rees says "it was heart-lifting to be able to bring this project to fruition after many months during which singing was silenced".

Emmanuel Despax's eighth release for Signum Classics delves into the dramatic and visionary world of Franz Liszt, from the great Sonata in B minor to the celestail Benediction de Deur dans la solitude. Despax offers a unique perspective on Liszt's work through a very personal connection to the composer. His musical upbringing is rooted in a lineage of mentors which traces back to Liszt, creating a deep connection to the composer's legacy. Despax comments "This lineage has deeply influenced my musical upbringing, instilling a unique perspective on interpretation, fostering an insatiable curiosity... emphasising engaging with the score with utmost integrity, without shortcuts or compromise. Above all, this tradition signifies a performance ethos... to serve as a conduit between the music and the audience".

In a new arrangement for solo harp, celebrated harpist Gwyneth Wentink presents Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt’s Canto Ostinato and Aforisme No. 2 (a transcription by Jeroen van Veen on behalf of Simeon ten Holt).

“I first heard Canto Ostinato on piano in 2011 and I felt as if I was on fire. THIS is something I wanted to play on the harp: I clearly recall the zeal and enthusiasm I felt at the time. I was buzzing with curiosity, excitement, and vitality. Exploring various musical genres, arranging music for the harp, and working in interdisciplinary settings is something that has always been important to me. Playing the harp, one is being confronted with a rather restricted repertoire, and one almost evidently scans the horizon for what else one can arrange, commission, and/or discover” – Gwyneth Wentink.

An album combining works by Schubert, Piazzolla, and Lintinen, cellist Trey Lee is joined by the English Chamber Orchestra to perform compositions exploring the effects and impacts of climate change on both the environment and society. The album has two world premiere recordings of new arrangements for both cello and piano, and cello and orchestra by Trey Lee. “With the cello as a platform, I seek a sober yet trenchant means to tell the story of our seasons, and concurrently, create a musical narrative to account for how this crisis unfolds. This album is a journey across our world from the past to the present, and finally, to an increasingly plausible future through the prism of works by three composers from three eras.” – Trey Lee

Their second duo album on Signum Classics, Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson perform Beethoven’s Sonatas 6, 1, and 8. Just as in previous recordings, they use a copy of an 1805 Walter (a Viennese fortepiano) by Paul McNulty; together with violin strung with gut, these instruments are what Beethoven’s music craves, giving a rich texture and distinct colors between the registers.

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.

The Dream of Gerontius by Edward Elgar is a two-part work for voices and orchestra composed in 1900 to text by John Henry Newman. Widely regarded as Elgar's finest choral work, and by some his masterpiece, Gabrieli’s first-class performance, and McCreesh’s superb interpretation demonstrate why their recordings are seen as some of the best in classical music today.

REVIEW:

This strong performance is apparently the first to use historically appropriate instruments. The trombone, just to give the listener an idea, was owned by Elgar. Tenor Nicky Spence, in the lead role, offers a rich, serious performance. McCreesh’s interpretation focuses on the chorus, placing the work in the grand English oratorio tradition.

— AllMusic.com (James Manheim)