The Romantic Room is an expansive six-volume set exploring the rich and often overlooked chamber music of Louis Spohr, brought vividly to life by the Wdr Sinfonieorchester Chamber Players. Once hailed as the "German Paganini" and revered across Europe, Spohr was a pivotal figure of early Romanticism - an innovator who shaped the transition from Classical refinement to Romantic expression. This collection showcases his elegant string quintets and sextets, daring double quartets, and characterful potpourri, offering a portrait of a composer whose expressive range and artistic integrity remain strikingly relevant today. Spohr's chamber works are richly crafted and musically intricate, offering both technical challenges and expressive depth. These performances reveal a composer deeply rooted in tradition yet unafraid to experiment, blending lyrical intimacy with bold structural ideas. Following the highly acclaimed Brahms: String Sextets (Diapason d'Or) and String Quintets, the The Romantic Room: Chamber Works by Spohr box set is the Wdr Sinfonieorchester Chamber Players' third release on PENTATONE. The WDR Symphony Orchestra has also released an extensive discography with the label.

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.

In 1925 France's most famous musical rebel and pioneer died in the Saint-Joseph hospital in Paris from an excess of drinking. His name: Eric Satie, a French composer and pianist, born on May 17, 1866, in Honfleur, France. The most important image that posterity has retained of Satie is that of a humorist, a whimsical composer devoted to provocation, extravagance and the absurd. He is best known for his unique and often eccentric musical style, his unconventional approach to music, incorporating elements of humor and absurdity into his compositions. He often rejected the traditional norms of classical music, leading to a more avant-garde style, which laid the groundwork for modern music and influenced many composers, including John Cage. Satie's most famous works include "Gymnopedies" and "Gnossiennes, " characterized by their simplicity, innovative harmonies, and atmospheric quality. Satie passed away in 1925. - Hakon Austbo plays Satie's Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes, bringing his unique interpretation to the composer's timeless pieces. - Recorded in May-July 1999, Remonstrantse Gemeente, Deventer, The Netherlands.

SteepleChase proudly presents the 2025 audiophile reissue of Jaywalkin', the iconic 1976 album by legendary Danish jazz bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen. Known for his impeccable technique and rich, resonant tone, Pedersen's playing on this album is nothing short of masterful. Remastered from the original analog tapes for unparalleled sound clarity 180g heavyweight vinyl with exclusive new liner notes exploring the album's legacy and Pedersen's virtuosity by bassist and NHoP biographer Thomas Ovesen Featuring Philip Catherine on guitar, Ole Kock Hansen on electric piano, and Billy Higgins on drums, Jaywalkin' is a dynamic blend of swing, bossa nova, and intricate jazz improvisation. The title track "Jaywalkin'" stands as one of Pedersen's finest performances, showcasing his effortless command over rhythm and melody. A Must-Have for Jazz Collectors

A rising star and beloved worldwide, Chloe Chua presents with PENTATONE the vinyl edition of Mozart's complete violin concertos, Rondo in B-Flat Major, K. 269 and Rondo in C Major, K. 373 as well as the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola & Orchestra in E-Flat Major, K. 364. The latter also features the outstanding young Chinese violist Ziyu He, winner of the 2016 Yehudi Menuhin Competition at just 16. In this performance, he showcases his remarkable artistry alongside Chloe, herself a former winner of the same prestigious competition. The soloists are joined by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hans Graf, whose connection with the violin virtuoso holds special significance. This project began when Chloe was just 15 years old, when she embraced the challenge of following in the footsteps of the many legendary violinists who have recorded this repertoire. In these refined and fresh interpretations, her deep connection to the music - written by Mozart when he was around her age - is unmistakable. Even without a trained ear, one can appreciate her extraordinary technique, elegance, and effort to capture the vitality of these beloved works. This special vinyl edition complements Chloe's already released and acclaimed Butterfly Lovers & Paganini (2025) and Vivaldi: Four Seasons & Locatelli Harmonic Labyrinth (2024). This release is also available as a physical 3CD album.

Deutscher Schallplattenpreis - The jury's statement: "Comprehensive and highly "Comprehensive and interpretatively high-ranking insight into the central creative field of an unjustly forgotten composer of the Schonberg generation, who stood in the Reger tradition and continued it not without a pronounced will to experiment. The edition of a young label enriches the record repertoire in an exemplary way and has a high information value." (Orgelwerke); "Excellent performance." (American Record Guide)

Composer, violinist, and NYC impresario David Handler composes acoustic and electronic music that has been described by the New York Times as "eerie and superbly wrought... exploring polarities of light and dark, the sacred and the profane." This attraction to juxtaposition is also evident in Handler's role as co-founder of (Le) Poisson Rouge (LPR), the boundary-breaking downtown New York venue that has opened doors for his fellow performers and connected audiences with unheard music since 2008. Life Like Violence explores the everyday tumult of the mind: fear, whim, rage, pain, fancy. As Handler puts it: "this is the sound of my psyche." It's music that attacks itself, eating itself from the inside out. Ideas invade and gnaw at each other. They undermine, taunt, assault, exalt, and tease. Physical gestures disrupt long narratives whose melodies are obscured, revealed, decayed, destroyed, and mourned. What emerges is a broken beauty of spirit that has endured.

Piazzolla: La Calle 92

The world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company presents the most complete collection of Shakespeare's plays to be captured in widescreen. Filmed onstage in Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, this collection of contains 35 unforgettable dramas, with iconic performances by leading actors. From David Tennant's "mesmerising" Richard II (Guardian) and Paapa Essiedu's "utterly engaging performance" as Hamlet (Times), to Josette Simon delivering "a Cleopatra to die for" (Observer), and Sir Antony Sher's King Lear being hailed as "a crowning achievement in a major career" (Telegraph), this special collection showcases British theatre at it's finest.

An audiophile-grade LP transfer of another hit album of contemporary chillout from the master of piano minimalism, Jeroen van Veen. Perhaps the most influential composer of his generation (certainly among the most successful), electro-acoustic polymath Max Richter defies definition: composer, pianist, producer, remixer, and one of the most prolific of contemporary musical artists. Inspired equally by Bach, punk rock and ambient electronica, Richter has built a unique sonic world, which blends the rigour of a formal classical training with the production wizardry of modern technology. Richter came to fame in the classical sphere with his recomposition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. He has shown an unerring feel for the chillout vibe which many listeners seek in the contemporary classical genre, resulting in commissions for dozens of television and film soundtracks, ballet scores, and a number of long-form original works, including Sleep, an "eight-hour cradle song" influenced by Mahler. In making this survey of Richter's output on and for the piano, Jeroen van Veen has chosen 18 pieces from Richter's earlier work. His selection includes all of Richter's published music for solo piano, plus Waltz with Bashir: an arrangement by Richter of a Schubert sonata movement, further rearranged for solo piano by Van Veen himself. Each of the pieces is illuminated in the sleeve note with commentary from Richter himself. The aesthetic of Richter's soft melodic swirls is complemented by the medium of LP, which gives a gentle, moody vibe to this recording originally made in 2016. When first released, it received enthusiastic critical recommendations: 'Van Veen knows exactly how to play this music, and I am talking about both his fingers and his head.' (Fanfare) - Max Richter (born in 1966) is one of the most influential composers of his generation. Electro-acoustic polymath Max Richter defies definition: composer, pianist, producer, remixer, and collaborator, and beyond argument one of the most prolific of contemporary musical artists. Inspired equally by Bach, punk rock and ambient electronica, Richter's sonic world blends a formal classical training (he graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, and was a pupil of renowned composer Luciano Berio) with modern technology. - This recording presents Richter's solo piano music up to date. - Dutchman Jeroen van Veen is one of the leading pianists of today focusing on Minimalism and championing a new generation of composers, easily crossing borders between musical styles.

Part 1 of a prog rock-minimalist classic, in two contemporary transcriptions, on an audiophile-grade LP transfer. At the age of 19, the guitarist/composer Mike Oldfield could hardly have anticipated the enduring legacy of his debut album. Tubular Bells fused the instrumental rock style of Cream and Rick Wakeman with the experimental minimalism of Terry Riley. It also established the new label of Virgin Records as a home for innovative British artists in many genres. More than half a century on, the album has influenced countless musicians as one of the best-selling ever albums by a UK musician, selling 15m copies worldwide. Side A of the original album had a life of it's own from the beginning, designated by Oldfield as 'Opus One'. Marcel Bergmann traces influences of South American & Latin, Balinese, Irish, Celtic, rock and minimalist sources in the work. A conversation with Jeroen van Veen in 2005 was the catalyst for him to put his long-time love of the album at the service of a transcription for four pianos. This work branched into a separate version for pairs of pianos and synthesizers, which seemed to present more practical prospects for performance. As well as immersing himself within Oldfield's original album, Bergmann went back to a live-recorded version of the album and the orchestral version scored by one of the musicians on the original, David Bedford. Bergmann's arrangement thus retains all the multi-layered rhythmic and textural richness of the original Tubular Bells, while orienting the feel of the piece in the direction of the classical minimalism for which van Veen has become known as an authoritative exponent. This new LP transfer on high-grade vinyl is designed to take advantage of the special immediacy and richness available on high-end analogue equipment to bring Tubular Bells to life as never before. - The LP version of a highly successful CD issue of the arrangement for 4 pianos of the iconic Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. - Tubular Bells, released in 1973, is the groundbreaking debut album by British multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Blending progressive rock, classical, and folk music, the album became famous for it's experimental structure, with it's two parts spanning nearly an hour in total. The music is entirely instrumental. - What makes Tubular Bells unique is it's layered composition, with Oldfield playing all the instruments himself -over 20 in total- including guitars, keyboards, percussion, and, of course, tubular bells. The opening piano motif, featured prominently in the 1973 film The Exorcist, became iconic and contributed to the album's commercial success. - The arrangement for 4 pianos recorded here is by Marcel Bergmann, who is joined by Elizabeth Bergmann, Jeroen van Veen and Sandra van Veen.

This album is all about Tadd Dameron (1917 - 65), one of the most important American jazz composer/musicians. The master baritone saxophonist and perennial pole winner Gary Smulyan conceived the brilliant idea of recording Dameron compositions with lyrics. The vocal part is phenomenally rendered by the young talent Anais Reno. Three songs including the lovely This Night Of Stars have hitherto never been recorded. "While Smulyan solos brilliantly throughout, Reno is the real treat here." (Bill Milkowski - DownBeat on SCCD 31936). "Smulyan here brings to light Dameron's heretofore unknown Library of Congress trove of standard-quality off-Broadway gems." (Fred Bouchard - NYCJR on SCCD 31936) 180g Audiophile Vinyl

FOR THE 20th ANNIVERSARY OF HIS ALBUM "AT HOME" AND HIS HIT SONG "REMEMBERING", AVISHAI COHEN IS OFFERING, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, A VINYL EDITION OF THIS JAZZ CLASSIC !

Rising star violinist Chloe Chua presents a vinyl edition of her acclaimed recording combining Chen Gang and He Zhanhao's Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto with Niccolo Paganini's First Violin Concerto, performed together with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Rodolfo Barraez and Mario Venzago. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto was written in 1959, and inspired by a tale often called the Romeo & Juliet of ancient China. Chen and He deftly combine a Western classical idiom with elements from Chinese opera, such as grace notes and portamento effects, and the work has become one of the most famous and acclaimed pieces of Chinese classical music. This album also features an interpretation of Chen Gang's Sunshine over Tashkurgan, which adds Central-Asian maqam to the stylistic palette. The programme concludes with Paganini's First Violin Concerto, musically inspired by Rossinian bel canto. The three works share a richness of melodic invention and orchestral colours, as well as breathtaking virtuosic demands for the soloist. The solo parts are in excellent hands with Chloe Chua, who admires the steadfast love and perseverance of the Butterfly Lovers and feels fully at home in these evocative and exhilarating masterpieces. Chloe Chua and the Singapore Symphony return to Pentatone after their acclaimed recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Locatelli's Labirinto armonico (2023).

colorful, witty, unpredictable, inventive and swinging is what jazz critic Scott Yanow observes of cornetist/composer Knuffke. He created here an astoundingly musical sounding board by the two phenomenal double bass players: SteepleChase stalwart Jay Anderson (left channel) and Swedish born Thommy Andersson (right channel). 180g Audiophile Vinyl