The multiple award-winning bass-baritone Sebastian Naglatzki and the versatile pianist Ana Miceva bring together on their new GENUIN album the last song compositions of Franz Schubert, Hugo Wolf, Johannes Brahms, and Maurice Ravel. These works reflect themes such as farewell, transience, and the search for ultimate truths - captured in music with poignancy and deep feeling. The imaginatively conceived album of the exceptional singer and his expressive piano partner is both a musical retrospective and an audible legacy from four great masters of music history.

When Jan van Gilse completed his studies in Cologne in 1902, he devoted himself to his prizewinning First Symphony along with a dramatic scene based on the prose poem Sulamith by Prince Erich von Sch�naich-Carolath, in which Satan realises that there is still love on earth despite his machinations. Judging by his impressive music, this must have been the innermost conviction of the composer, who never found it easy in his life to bridge the gap between his German education and the prevailing taste of his fellow countrymen. Combative and vulnerable, quick-tempered and desperate, he strove for a truth that few heard - a loner even when, in 1929, he wrote the poignant Kreis des Lebens (Circle of Life) after Rainer Maria Rilke, which had had to wait for a hundred years to receive an adequate performance and deserved recognition. Now it has arrived.

Five years younger than Johann Sebastian Bach, who survived him by all of eight months, Gottfried Heinrich St�lzel was among those Central German musicians who made a name for themselves beyond their regional sphere of influence. It is no coincidence that the sacred works of Gotha's long-serving court conductor in particular have now found a suitable home in our catalogue. The passions, oratorios, and cantatas that have already been released are now joined by five pieces of Protestant sacred music in which the extensive Catholic liturgy is reduced to Kyrie and Gloria. The missae breves selected here confirm once again that their author was 'one of the most reasonable, learned and great composers' to whom Johann Mattheson rightly accorded a place of honour in his Ehrenpforte of 1740. All should know.

Towards the end of his life, Johannes Brahms declared more than once that he was retiring from composing - luckily for us, he never quite followed through. Not because he had run out of inspiration - Brahms was at the height of his powers - but because he felt a growing pull toward the intimacy of chamber music, piano pieces, and songs, which brought him deeper personal satisfaction than grand orchestral forms. Still, Brahms returned once more to orchestral writing in 1887 with the Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 - his last orchestral work. The reason was personal: a gesture of reconciliation toward his estranged friend, the great violinist Joseph Joachim. This concerto, written for Joachim and cellist Robert Hausmann, symbolises renewed harmony - not just musically, but emotionally. The two solo instruments engage in a rich, expressive dialogue throughout. Mozart wrote his Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major for violin and viola in the summer of 1779 - a true synthesis of symphony and concerto. This work is expansive and noble in character, full of brilliant writing for both soloists. Mozart, himself an accomplished violinist, clearly understood how to write for the instrument with flair and sensitivity. One striking feature of the work is that the viola part is written in D major, requiring the instrument to be tuned a semitone higher (a practice known as scordatura). Common in the Baroque era, scordatura was still occasionally used in Mozart's time to achieve a brighter, more penetrating sound. The autograph of the piece is lost; only later copies have survived - except for the original drafts of the cadenzas. On this recording, the viola part is performed by a cellist, playing in the original viola position without octave transposition. � Jarom�r Havl�k

His First Symphony famously took Brahms twenty-one years from conception to first performance - a marker of both his own highly self-critical assessment of his output, combined with the expectation of everyone around him that his symphonic output would naturally pick up where Beethoven had left off. Astonishingly, his Second Symphony was begun in June 1877 and received it's first performance just six months later, by the Vienna Philharmonic and Hans Richter. It's cheerful nature and pastoral mood are also a stark contrast to the first symphony. Following a gap of some six years, Brahms returned to the form in 1883, and composed his third and then fourth symphonies in quick succession. Begun in 1884, the Fourth Symphony was premi�red by Brahms and the Meiningen court orchestra in October 1885. The work is especially notable for it's last movement, which takes the form of a passacaglia (an extremely rare occurrence) and is the only one of Brahms's symphonies to end in a minor key.

The acclaimed Danish jazz trio Ginmanblachmandahl, consisting of pianist Carsten Dahl, bassist Lennart Ginman, and drummer Thomas Blachman, return with the album Play Ballads, a collection of fifteen jazz standards rendered in their signature, contemplative style on Storyville Records. The trio's deep musical rapport is immediately apparent. Each note and silence is measured with care, revealing a rare comfort and understanding cultivated over decades of collaboration. Play Ballads is distinguished by it's contemplative approach to well-known standards such as Matt Dennis' Angel Eyes, Vernon Duke's Autumn in New York, Billy Strayhorn's Take the "A" Train, Thelonious Monk's Blue Monk, and Duke Ellington's Satin Doll. Each track is performed at deliberately slow tempos, allowing the trio to explore the subtle beauty and emotional depth of each melody. Dahl's piano often leads with sensitive, improvisational statements, while Ginman's bass and Blachman's drums provide understated yet essential commentary. Highlights include a sparse and intimate Angel Eyes, the reflective melancholy of Gone with the Wind, and a subtle reinterpretation of Ellington's Things Ain't What They Used to Be. The album reveals new facets of these standards, balancing tradition with innovation and showcasing the trio's ability to make each melody their own. Their shared history stretches back to the late 1980s, encompassing projects with Page One, Thomas Agergaard, Claus Hempler, and numerous individual recordings. Separately, they have worked with American jazz luminaries including Ed Thigpen, Joe Lovano, and Eddie Gomez, and together they have explored standards and original compositions across multiple albums since 2004. Play Ballads is a testament to the trio's mastery, musical intuition, and their ability to make every note and every silence count. This album is not only a must-listen for longtime jazz aficionados but also an invitation for new audiences to experience the artistry of three of Denmark's finest jazz musicians at the height of their powers.

This is an album of first-rate contemporary works for clarinet and piano.

Upon Wings of Words is a setting of Emily Dickinson for mezzo-soprano and string quartet. Dickinson continues to inspire composers over 130 years since her death, and here it is the tense, springy rhythms of her poems that Read Thomas responds to.

Had Alberto Ginastera not been born just three years after the scandalous premiere of The Rite of Spring, he could easily have been considered one of the earliest followers of the "pagan" Stravinsky. Although wild rhythms of ancient dances, volcanic eruptions of complex sound layers, and martyrs of all kinds permeate his works, they are never random in form. His First String Quartet from 1948, for example, follows a traditional path, with some bows losing a bit of horsehair during performance - not unlike his Piano Quintet, premiered in Venice in 1963, which explores the limits of what is possible in seven extremely concise sections that the composer described as "neo-expressionistic". Maurice Ravel's unique String Quartet acts as an "impressionist" antipode and delicate counterpoint in this context.

Marking Oriel College's 700th anniversary, this unique collection explores the diverse musical traditions connected with Oriel College. Drawing on sources from medieval Marian devotion to the Oxford Movement, and from the work of distinguished fellows to contemporary commissions for the chapel choir, it explores the influence and inspiration of the college's scholars, poets, and musicians over seven centuries, charting an evolving relationship between the college and it's cultural life.

Choirs of spirits, wild passions, unshakeable loyalty, a gruesome act of murder, and the eternal triumph of love over death - these are the thoroughly familiar ingredients of the libretto that Ethel Smyth wrote (in German) for her one-act opera Der Wald (The Forest). The music, however, is anything but gruesome. Echoes of Robert Schumann, some striking reminiscences of Richard Wagner, and, particularly in the prologue, an unmistakable touch of Art Nouveau carry the drama. It had it's premiere at the Berlin Court Opera on 9 April 1902. It was subsequently staged at the Royal Opera House in London and presented with triumphant success at the Met in New York in March 1903. There were standing ovations and a veritable sea of flowers for the 44-year-old Englishwoman, who was the first woman to conquer the classical music temple on Broadway with her work. Talent can achieve anything.

In volume 19 of James D. Hicks' Nordic Journey series, Dr. Hicks has commissioned and premieres a new (2024), 50-plus-minute, 24-movement collection of contemporary miniatures for pipe organ, penned by the rising composer Fredrik Sixten, entitled A Nordic Organ Book. Performed upon the historic 1871 �kerman organ of the Cathedral in Uppsala, Sweden.

Including many world-premiere recordings, the first-ever album dedicated to the music of a 16th-century lutenist-composer from Padova: a sequence of virtuosic, restlessly inventive fantasias and dances. The music on this album is drawn from a 1582 collection, Novae tabulae musicae testudinariae hexachordae et heptachordae. The frontispiece shows a figure, likely Barbetta himself, casting a broken lute into the fire, beneath which reads a defiant inscription: 'I shall never willingly entrust the lute to the ignorant or the envious, but to one born of flame shall I commit it - for neither ignorance nor envy shall ever be able to achieve what he can.' Beyond the collection itself, little is known about it's author, Cecilio Cesare Barbetta (c. 1540-c. 1623). Living and working in the university city of Padova, Barbetta was evidently exposed to German cultural models through the members of the German nobility who passed through the city. Many of his 14 Fantasias are intricate four-part contrapuntal works, requiring both technical mastery and a deep understanding of musical structure from the performer. By contrast, Barbetta also wrote (or elaborated) not only traditional Italian dances like the Saltarello but also pieces with exotic character, such as the Moresca, a traditional Moorish dance from North Africa. This album has been a labour of love for the Japanese lutenist Mikiya Kaisho, whose booklet essay details his work in transcribing Barbetta's music from facsimiles of the original tablatures. 'My hope was to craft a musical narrative,' he writes, 'carefully designed to allow anyone to enjoy the lute's delicate and intimate resonance in daily life, on a journey through a vibrant and multifaceted sound world.'

This album brings together a remarkable collection of secular choral works by the eminent American composer Dan Locklair, celebrated for his gift of weaving words with rich, expansive, harmonious, and lyrical music. Drawing on texts by poets as diverse as Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, W.B. Yeats, Phillis Wheatley, Christine Teale Howes, John Gillespie Magee, Jr., and Rabindranath Tagore, these pieces explore themes of love and loss, nature and freedom, moments of intimate reflection, and events of world-shaking resonance, always with a voice that is deeply rooted in American culture. Spanning more than three decades, the works range from intimate unaccompanied choral partsongs to expansive cantatas, all commissioned by a range of ensembles, youth choirs, and choral societies.

John Ireland is widely regarded as one of the greatest British composers of the twentieth century. His contribution to the piano solo repertoire is of great significance. This album, performed by award-winning pianist Rebeca Omordia, is an exploration of John Ireland's piano music composed over a period of almost forty years. His distinctly English yet individualistic musical style is reflected in works bearing evocative titles that reveal Ireland's deep connection to landscapes and literature, creating a unique sound world. The release includes Decorations, published in 1915, as the earliest pieces; the substantial Piano Sonata in E minor (1920), described by Lisa Hardy in her book as "the outstanding example of all British piano sonatas"; the large-scale Sarnia: An Island Sequence (1940-41); and Columbine, the last piano piece he wrote, from 1951.