Finnish harpsichordist Aapo Hakkinen plays Book I of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier on the Christian Vater harpsichord preserved in Nuremberg and on an equally historic clavichord. Two of the 24 pairs of Preludes and Fugues are even presented in an alternative instrumentation on the historic North German organ of Backemoor. Aapo Hakkinen, not least through his acclaimed AEOLUS recordings of Bach's harpsichord concertos. UPC: 4026798102142Label: AeolusRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
At first glance, the choice of composers for this recording seems like an odd match: one cultivated a harsh,expressive musical language, while the other was a proponent of introspective soundscapes. One piece ends inan explosion, while the other offers us meditative contemplation.We also have an apparent clash of nationalities: Prokofiev was Russian, (b. Sontsivka, Ukraine) Silvestrov isUkrainian, and conductor Dmitry Matvienko is Belarusian. But through art and music, we can always meet indialogue and mutual understanding.What may first seem like madness has a clear logic. In Dmitry Matvienko's view, there are strong links betweenthe two composers. Quoting Valentin Silvestrov's belief that "only melody makes music eternal," Matvienkoexplains why he chose Quiet Music for this recording. Despite very different musical languages, both composerswere exceptional melodists who regarded melody as the foundation of all music, regardless of genre or 20thcenturyavant-garde trends.Matvienko also sees both works as shaped by their historical realities. Prokofiev's symphony reflects thedevastation of the post-war era and foreshadows future catastrophe, while Silvestrov's Quiet Music, written in2002, predates but resonates deeply with later conflicts. Prokofiev could not have imagined the tragedy thatwould unfold decades after his death, yet history reveals the cyclical nature of evil. His work on Eisenstein'sIvan the Terrible exposed a ruler's destructive paranoia - an allusion Stalin recognized. Today, Matvienko argues,history repeats itself in new forms. Against this, Silvestrov's Quiet Music offers consolation: a place of refugeopen to anyone, beyond nationality or religion, where sorrow can briefly be set aside.It was very important to Dmitry Matvienko to include this piece in this recording: "Silvestrov said in one of hisinterviews" - "I am so tired of the noise of this world ",- "I understand that and feel it very deeply. More andmore often I walk at night and listen to his music; not in headphones, but inside. And it gives me peace. I wantthis piece to be therapy and solace for our listeners as well." UPC: 0636943693629Label: Our RecordingsRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
Musicweb (UK): These lovingly restored aural documents reveal a performer at the top of his game. These are tremendously vibrant examples of Rosand's art. No lover of his art can pass by this classy set. UPC: 4713106280295Label: Rhine ClassicsRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
Chopin sans Chopin is Adam Golka's highly personal tribute to Frederic Chopin, featuring works inspired by Chopin instead of music by the master himself. The album includes a plethora of international composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, including choices inspired by Golka's Polish-American background and unique family history. The album includes a world premiere recording of the 1894 Mazurka in E minor by Natalia Janotha (1856-1932). This is Golka's fourth solo album on FHR. UPC: 5060216343068Label: First HandRelease Date: 5.15.26Format: CD
SOMM Recordings adds to it's already extensive catalogue of music by the British composer and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster Stephen Dodgson (1924 - 2013) with a third volume of his songs titled Turn Ye to Me. SOMM's previous Dodgson song releases include The Peasant Poet [SOMMCD 0659], hailed by Opera Today as "an incredibly interesting and engaging disc... done excellent service by all the performers;" and The Distances Between [SOMMCD 0673], about which the British Music Society said "the performances (by some prestigious names) and the warm, lifelike recording are impeccable." The performers on this third volume of Dodgson songs include prior SOMM artists also featured in Volumes I and II: Irish soprano Ailish Tynan and British mezzo-soprano Katie Bray, both past winners of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition; doctor-turned-tenor James Gilchrist, who is noted for his forthright and passionate style; Roderick Williams, one of the most sought-after baritones of his generation; guitarist and Dodgson specialist, Mark Eden; and GRAMMYr Award-winning pianist, Christopher Glynn. The recital opens with a first release of Three Songs to words of Thomas Lovell Beddoes, who died by suicide in 1849 aged 45. Tandaradei is his translation of the 13th-century German love poem, Under der linden, by Walther von der Vogelweide. Dirge and The Old Crow of Cairo are from Beddoes's posthumously published drama Death's Jest Book. Three single songs include settings of Andrew Marvell's pastoral poem The Mower to the Glow-Worms; George Meredith's sonnet Winter Heavens; and Matthew Prior's poem Daphne to Apollo inspired by Greek myth and set to guitar accompaniment. Two short solo piano pieces are from a set of Eight Fanciful Pieces-included in full on SOMM's 2024 release of piano music by Dodgson [SOMMCD 0684.] The marcato (marked) tempo of Il Zoppo suggests an irregular gait, while the contemplative Mirage hints at an Impressionistic style. Dodgson composed three sets of Bush Ballads based on texts by Australian poets and Australian folk verses. This release of the third series is a first recording. All Got a Mate sets an anonymous text as a folk duet. Rollicking, but steady is the tempo marking for Song of the Squatters to words by A.B. "Banjo" Paterson. The group closes with a quieter setting of Waitin'-a-While by Jim Grahame. Two single songs from 1950 include The Stone, marked Moderato: Calmo, to words adapted from Hal Summers, and the title song, Turn Ye to Me, which is a gently haunting Hebridean air with lyrics by Christopher North. The recital closes with London Lyrics, a cycle of five songs for tenor and guitar set to poetry by five different poets across four centuries-including Wilfred Owen and Cecil Day-Lewis-all inspired by Dodgson's home city. The composer draws expressive and captivating range from voice and guitar, exquisitely executed here by James Gilchrist and Mark Eden. UPC: 748871072022Label: Somm RecordingsRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
An album entirely devoted to the trombone - that's rather unusual! de proche en proche, Belgian composer Michel Fourgon's second monographic disc on Cypres, features the instrument in a variety of configurations, in stages spanning some twenty years: from solo pieces (with Alain Pire as soloist) to concertos with symphony orchestra and choir (OPRL and Choeur de Chambre de Namur), via several chamber music repertoire arrangements and a surprising and delightful exchange between baroque (Les Agremens) and modern (ORCW) chamber orchestras tuned a quarter tone apart. Accompanied by Alain Pire, his long-time collaborator, Michel Fourgon explores all the resources of the instrument in a joyful kaleidoscope with an aesthetic rigour that never distances him from what he considers to be "his" voice at the heart of the music of his time. UPC: 5412217046712Label: CypresRelease Date: 4.24.26Format: CD
Alena Baeva and Vadym Kholodenko are starting their recording of Beethoven's complete sonatas for violin and piano. Alena is recognised as a versatile violinist with a magnetic presence and now performs with the greatest orchestras and conductors, while Vadym has been one of the most impressive pianists of his generation since winning the gold medal at the 2013 Van Cliburn Competition. For more than ten years, they have formed a close-knit and highly sought-after duo (both on and off stage). The three sonatas featured on this recording (Op. 12 No. 3, Op. 24 "Spring," and Op. 47 "Kreutzer") were composed between 1797 and 1803, a period that brought Beethoven both his first recognition on the European stage and the first signs of his deafness. Baeva and Kholodenko used the 2020 edition by Bärenreiter and carried out in-depth research into their interpretative choices: phrasing, ornamentation, and tempi are the result of this research and of sources from the period. UPC: 3701624512081Label: AlphaRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
Principally surveying the Preludes and Images, the first two volumes of Alessandra Ammara's Debussy survey have attracted praise for their affinity with the composer's elusive but painterly idiom. According to Fanfare, 'Ammara reveals her sensitivity to the Debussy sound world, rife with blurred outlines of objects and infiltrated with variegated light, in the manner of the painter J.M.W. Turner.'For Volume 3, her focus turns principally to the set of 12 Etudes which miraculously took shape over the course of just two months, in August and September 1915. Plagued by ill-health following the diagnosis of rectal cancer in 1909, presented with the pressing need to increase his earnings through editing and performing, Debussy wrote the Etudes while staying in a town near Dieppe, on the Normandy coast. Emerging from a period of severe depression, he once more took inspiration from the sea in a sudden and final burst of creativity which also saw the composition of the suite for two pianos, en blanc et noir, and the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp. However, it is the 12 Etudes which have come both to define Debussy's late style - on the piano, as a counterpart to his ballet for Diaghilev, Jeux - and to present both a model and a challenge to later composers of piano etudes from Tansman to Ligeti. Debussy himself said that they were "a warning to pianists not to take up the musical profession unless they have remarkable hands". While the dry titles of the individual Etudes serve to conceal their rich and turbulent inner landscape, aspects of their invention are prefigured by the earlier works on Alessandra Ammara's album. The three movements of Estampes are as much 'studies' in their way as the Etudes - of particular kinds of movement refracted through the images of a Japanese pagoda, a Spanish evening and a garden in the rain. From 1904, and capturing the passion of his affair with Emma Bardac, L'isle Joyeuse references both the island of Jersey and a painting by Watteau, but it also serves as a study in superimposed scales. UPC: 5063758103619Label: Piano ClassicsRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
Icaro is a compelling recital for cello and piano that brings together four luminous works rooted in early-20th-century Spanish musical nationalism, enriched by Catalan folk colour and French Impressionist refinement. Cellist Alex Olmedo Duynslaeger and pianist Fiona Mato present a carefully curated programme that combines rediscovery with repertoire favourites, offering strong appeal to both specialists and a broader classical audience.The album opens with JoaquÃn Nin de Castellanos's Spanish Suite for cello and piano, a vivid journey through regional dances and melodies shaped by the Franco-Spanish aesthetic of Paris between the wars. A major highlight is the world-premiere recording of the Sonata in A major by LluÃs Benejam, rescued from the archives of the Barcelona Conservatory: an elegant, finely crafted work that blends Impressionist sonorities, rhythmic vitality, and lyrical depth. Manuel Oltra's mature Sonata for Cello and Piano follows, notable for it's dynamic dialogue, structural clarity, and expressive intensity, before the programme closes with Gaspar Cassadó's celebrated Requiebros, dedicated to Pau Casals and performed here with remarkable freedom and character.Icaro is both an artistic statement and a discovery album: ideal for distributors seeking high-quality repertoire with premiere value, strong interpretative personalities, and a narrative that connects myth, heritage, and modern performance in a highly attractive commercial package. UPC: 8436597701068Label: Ibs ClassicalRelease Date: 5.8.26Format: CD
The song cycle A Screenshot of Now is a new work by guitarist and composer Giacomo Susani on words by the poet, lyricist, author and physician Chinwe D. John. Receiving it's premiere recording on this album, the collection is a series of 14 poems in which Susani's music - for voice and guitar - aims to act as a conduit of the lyrics' deepest symbolic meanings, in such a way that sounds and words become indivisible. Each poem reflects on various aspects of modern life: the corrupting nature of global politics, family dysfunction, freedom, the beauty and seduction of nature, romance amid chaos, escape from tyranny and satire of modern 'pirates'. The cycle concludes with a reminder that simple pleasures still hold meaning despite technological change. Three leading voices share the spotlight: Alexander Chance, Tim Mead and Daniel Norman, with Giacomo Susani accompanying on the guitar. UPC: 691062078221Label: Linn RecordsRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
In early summer 1929, after returning home from Germany, the Austrian Composer Ernst Krenek embarked on a twenty-day journey through the Austrian Alps, accompanied by his parents and his second wife, Berta. They covered the longer distances between the 14 stops by bus and train, from which they undertook their hikes and excursions. Their route took them from Vienna to Upper Styria, the Salzkammergut region, Carinthia, and East Tyrol, then back to Vienna via Lower Austria. On this journey, Krenek is not just a composer traveling, but rather a poet, stage designer, and philosopher tracing the spirit of the times in his homeland. Just a few days after returning to Vienna, he set to work and, while the impressions of the trip were still fresh, created the music and text for the song cycle almost simultaneously. The Austrian tenor Alexander Kaimbacher and Anna Sushon on piano present the resulting entertaining, often humorous "Reisebuch aus den osterreichischen Alpen" (Travel Book from the Austrian Alps). UPC: 9003643993563Label: GramolaRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
Transcribing an established piece of repertoire for a new instrument unlocks new colors and expressions the original composer may have never dreamed of. On ART OF TRANSCRIPTION, flutist Alexander Lipay explores Brahms' Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Schubert's Sonatina No. 2 in A minor, and Franck's Sonata in A major with a fresh perspective, swapping the string instruments out for the liquid, ethereal sound of the flute. Accompanied by pianist Fanya Lin, Lipay unearths exciting qualities within each piece and breathes new life into well-known notes. UPC: 808857378682Label: NavonaRelease Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
For her debut solo album of music by J. S. Bach's contemporary Gottlieb Muffat, Gramophone praised pianist and harpsichordist Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya as "an ideal advocate for the music". Now, for her second solo recording for Linn, she turns to Johann Sebastian Bach in Transformations, revealing him as the supreme reinventor who continually refashioned existing material into striking new creations. The recital includes Bach's brilliant reworkings of concertos by Vivaldi and Marcello, expanded with a colour and vitality well beyond the originals. The other works on the programme are extraordinary arrangements of Bach's own music (Adagio in G major and Sonata in D minor), pieces initially written for a different instrument (Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E-flat major) and a concerto without orchestra (the Italian Concerto). UPC: 691062078924Label: Linn RecordsRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
For almost 3 decades, brothers Alfons and Aloys Kontarsky were the world's leading piano duo. They set the standard for all subsequent pairs of siblings to play the piano. Even today, their musical and analytical acuity and intellectual insight remain unrivalled. What is particularly fascinating about their playing is the lucid, transparent sound. An American critic summed it up succinctly, "One pianist in two bodies." Between 1959 and 1983, they recorded numerous albums for Deutsche Grammophon. These recordings are now available for the first time as an 18 CD Original Jackets Collection, which includes three CD premieres. Saint-Saens' 'Carnival of the Animals' is featured in 3 versions: English, German and a purely musical rendition. Additional Philips, ECM & Koch Schwann recordings are also available, as are live recordings from the Lockenhaus festival. The portrait is completed by liner notes from Peter Uehling & Markus Kettner, as well as numerous rare and unpublished photos. UPC: 028948682355Label: Deutsche GrammophonRelease Date: 5.15.26Format: CD
Reference recordings of the complete piano concertos and piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven, performed by one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of all time. Few pianists have shaped the reception of Beethoven's music at the turn of the 20th to the 21st century as profoundly as the Austrian artist with Moravian roots. Presented on 12 CDs, this set features Brendel's pioneering Philips recordings of all Beethoven piano sonatas from the 1970s, complemented by his acclaimed interpretations of Beethoven's piano concertos with James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1983. The set also includes the Choral Fantasy, recorded by Brendel in 1977 with Bernard Haitink and the London Symphony Orchestra. UPC: 028948040032Label: DeccaRelease Date: 4.24.26Format: CD
The special edition collects Alfred Brendel's recordings of Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 5-27 with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields on 10 CDs. The recordings span 1971 to 1984. It is clear from his performances that he deeply appreciates the composer and the works, devoting his full artistic attention to each concerto. Marriner and the ASMF are the perfect accompanists, the renowned chamber orchestra captivating with it's clear and refined sound. It is therefore a pure joy for the listener to experience the outstanding interplay between pianist and conductor in each concerto. "Brendel's articulation and his use of the pedal deserve the highest praise. His playing has depth, confidence, and absolute precision." - GRAMOPHONE UPC: 028948025992Label: DeccaRelease Date: 4.24.26Format: CD
In the second instalment of Alfredo Perl's complete recording of Beethoven's piano works, the sonatas, variations, bagatelles and individual pieces composed during the so-called "classical" period (1801-1814) take centre stage. Their expressive power and innovative virtuosity constitute a landmark in the history of piano music. UPC: 4022143214621Label: AuditeRelease Date: 5.15.26Format: CD
Alim Beisembayev is featured in this 14th volume of the Next Generation Mozart Soloists series. Under the baton of Howard Griffiths, the Kazakhstani pianist, who studied in Russia and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, presents two of Mozart's last piano concertos. Two years separate Concerto KV 503 and Concerto KV 537, composed in February 1788. It is nicknamed the 'Coronation Concerto' because the composer played it in Frankfurt for the coronation of Emperor Leopold II: "Both works are primarily majestic, but they also exhibit moments of playfulness, tenderness and sometimes nostalgia. There are also frequent passages that are operatic in character", says Alim Beisembayev. "For a long time I thought his music was only played by children. Perhaps we understand Mozart best as children, before we feel a hunger for 'interpretation'. I feel that Mozart's music should sound pure and innocent." UPC: 3701624511848Label: AlphaRelease Date: 5.22.26Format: CD
For her first solo album with BIS Records, Alina Ibragimova, together with Cedric Tiberghien, embarks on recording of Beethoven's entire violin sonatas. As one might expect, the first violinist of the Chiaroscuro Quartet presents these chamber music masterpieces on period instruments. While she plays a gut-stringed instrument, Tiberghien plays a fortepiano, a copy of a Viennese instrument from 1794. This new interpretation of Beethoven's violin sonatas brings us as close as possible to the soundscape that listeners present at the première of these works would have heard at the turn of the 19th century.This first volume contains the three violin sonatas Opus 12, the first that Beethoven published in Vienna, where he had already established himself as Mozart's successor. As was customary at the time, they are written 'for harpsichord or fortepiano, with the accompaniment of a violin', but following Mozart's example, they are truly for both instruments in equal measure. The disc concludes with the 'Spring' Sonata, the most popular and probably the most poetic of the violin sonatas.We look forward to continuing this undoubtedly landmark recording series, with a second and third instalment soon to come. UPC: 7318599927244Label: BisRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
Extending the Range is the result ofseveral years of collaboration betweenAllmanna Sangen and the Malva Quartet.Our two ensembles are driven bya shared desire to explore new musicand to promote music by femalecomposers. Both aspects are reflectedin this album of music for choir andstring quartet, written by some of themost exciting Swedish and Americancomposers of our time. UPC: 822359004498Label: Swedish SocietyRelease Date: 5.15.26Format: CD
With Plucked Bach III, Alon Sariel deepens his acclaimed Bach cycle, shaping a sound world marked by exceptional refinement and inward focus. This final volume enriches the series with new colours: a further relative of the lute family-the Ottoman baglama-and a rare Tuscan-type mandola, whose octave-lower tuning lends Bach's Third Cello Suite a dark, velvety resonance. The archlute, heard at the album's opening and close, frames the programme with quiet elegance, while Sariel's touch reveals Bach's writing to be both architecturally precise and profoundly tactile.The album unfolds as a sequence of finely balanced reflections rather than a single dramatic arc. Bach's works-such as the Prelude from The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Musette from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena, and the Second Violin Partita with it's monumental Chaconne-appear in subtly transformed light, their rhythmic pulse and harmonic gravity brought into sharp relief by the intimacy of the plucked strings. Familiar pieces from the keyboard, violin, and cello repertoire are set alongside rarer works, including those of Westhoff and Matteis, creating a listening experience that glides effortlessly between contemplation, memory, and resonance. Even in it's most expansive moments, the music maintains a sense of poise, allowing space, silence, and timbre to speak with equal eloquence.Plucked Bach III continues Alon Sariel's collaboration with PENTATONE. Beyond the Plucked Bach trilogy, this partnership also includes Vienna Mandolin Stories (2025) and the EP Schubert's Mandolin (2024), affirming Sariel as an exceptional artist whose work consistently reimagines the expressive possibilities of plucked instruments-and particularly of the mandolin-with rare depth and imagination. UPC: 8717306264211Label: PentatoneRelease Date: 5.8.26Format: CD
With works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Fritz Kreisler, the Amadeus Trio presents a multifaceted programme that combines Viennese chamber music tradition, lyrical depth and virtuoso esprit. Beethoven's famous 'Gassenhauer Trio' captivates with it's wit and elegance, Schubert's first piano trio with it's formal breadth and poetic expressiveness, while Fritz Kreisler's miniatures bring the unmistakable Viennese charm into the modern age with a wink. Founded in 2020, the Amadeus Trio brings together three internationally renowned soloists who share a passion for chamber music and intense dialogue with each other - and with the audience. The members of the trio have already performed with leading orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and have appeared in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall London, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Tonhalle Zurich, the Vienna Musikverein and the Konzerthaus. The Amadeus Trio performs internationally in Europe and Asia and received standing ovations at it's debut in the sold-out Vienna Konzerthaus. Today, the ensemble stands for lively, high-class chamber music that draws inspiration from tradition and brings it into the present with fresh energy and immediate expressiveness. UPC: 4028098000975Label: Supreme ClassicsRelease Date: 4.3.26Format: CD
Face2Face compares the Beethoven string quartets with string quartets by avantgarde composers, demonstrating how far ahead of his time Beethoven was. The second album of this series contains Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet op. 18/6, Rudolf Kelterborn's String Quartet no. 6 (2001) and Ludwig van Beethoven's "Harfenquartett" op. 74. The Amaryllis Quartett won 1st price at the 6th International Chamber Music Competition in Melbourne (2011). UPC: 885470044637Label: Berlin ClassicsRelease Date: 4.24.26Format: CD
Alongside Smetana, Dvorak, and Janacek, Bohuslav Martinu stands as one of the great pillars of Czech music. Born in Policka in 1890, he revealed his precocious talent early on, composing his first string quartet at just ten years old. His interest in France and it's music, particularly that of Debussy, developed quickly. As a second violinist of the Czech Philharmonic, Martinu also became well acquainted with the works of Ravel and Dukas. In 1923, he moved to Paris, where he studied under Albert Roussel. He would spend the next seventeen years in France, fleeing the German occupation in 1941 to take refuge in the United States. In 1953, he returned to Europe, dividing his time between Nice, Rome, and Switzerland, where he died in 1959.A composer of vast cultural horizons and innate cosmopolitanism, Martinu's music reveals a ceaseless curiosity for diverse styles. Though his early work is steeped in Czech folk traditions, his voice soon broadened to incorporate French clarity, the Renaissance English madrigal, and the baroque concerto grosso. Within his vast output, chamber music holds a central place. In 1946, while composing his Sixth String Quartet, Martinu wrote: "In pure chamber music, I always feel most myself."This new recording presents works written between 1937 and 1945: the famous Flute Sonata, Sonata for Flute, Violin & Piano, the Madrigal Sonata for the same instruments, and the Violin Sonata No.3, music of vibrant vitality and rich emotions. Played with strong commitment by Ambroise Aubrun (violin), Jocelyn Aubrun (flute) and Steven Vanhauwaert (piano). UPC: 5063758975018Label: Brilliant ClassicsRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
SOMM Recordings' new series, "Elgar from the Archives," explores Edward Elgar's music with rare archival recordings, not only from well-known British interpreters but also from lesser known, yet equally laudable, international conductors and soloists.Volume 2 in the series features historic live performances of Sir Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 with Tibor Varga, and the Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 with Andre Navarra. Lani Spahr-whose work as a master recording engineer of historic reissues has been honoured by Gramophone Magazine-has once again expertly realised the audio restoration of these performances.  The Royal Philharmonic Society of London commissioned the Violin Concerto from Elgar in 1909. Composed within a year of his First Symphony, it is one of his longest orchestral compositions and has the reputation of being one of the most difficult in the violin repertoire. He dedicated it to the noted violin master of his day, Fritz Kreisler, who gave the premiere performance in 1910 with Elgar conducting. The Hungarian violinist Tibor Varga (1921-2003) was 6 years old when he made his first public appearance, becoming one of the most prominent soloists of his generation. The Franz Liszt Academy appointed him an honorary professor-a rare distinction also awarded to Elgar, Emil Gilels, Richard Strauss, and Arturo Toscanini, amongst others. Varga moved to London in 1947, became a citizen, and lived in Britain for nine years. That experience is reflected in his fine, committed performance of Elgar's concerto. This recording, from 1957, is with the Dutch composer and conductor Jan Koetsier and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.  Following the Great War, Lady Elgar noted that her husband's compositions were different in style and character. His four-movement Cello Concerto, completed in 1919, is barely longer than the first movement of his Violin Concerto, and it is a contemplative, elegiac work with a heartfelt third-movement adagio that is a masterful example of controlled emotion. Yet the concerto ends on a positive note, as the declamatory opening returns in a valedictory form at the end of the finale. The renowned cellist Andre Navarra (1911-1988) graduated from the Paris Conservatoire at the age of fifteen, and he was later mentored by Pablo Casals. He toured extensively in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Soviet Union, playing with the great conductors of the era, and he was one of a number of distinguished French cellists who embraced the Elgar concerto. He chose it for his first public performance in Britain at the 1950 Cheltenham Festival with John Barbirolli-with whom he recorded the concerto in 1957. His recording here with German conductor Fritz Rieger and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, comes from 1956. UPC: 758871504720Label: Somm RecordingsRelease Date: 3.27.26Format: CD
Deluxe Edition. Recent scientific studies show that listening to music makes people happy - especially listening to music in the company of others. But I've known that for years! I see it happening every night, right in front of me at our concerts. Whether we're playing a captivating waltz like the 'Blue Danube' or a romantic melody like the 'Vilja Song', I see people looking happy, even radiant, because they're listening to our music. And of course, we in the Johann Strauss Orchestra are very proud of that. I hope I can carry on making you happy with our music for a long time to come, and I wish you great enjoyment listening to 'Romantic Moments II' !
Tracklist:
Sunrise Sunset (From "Fiddler on the Roof")
Around the World
Evening Prayer (From "Fiddler on the Roof")
Strangers in the Night
Sail Along Silvery Moon
Gern Hab' Ich Die Frau'n Geküsst (From "Paganini")
Dorfschwalben Aus Österreich
Morning Hymn
Du Schwarzer Zigeuner
Red Roses for a Blue Lady
El Cóndor Pasa
The Way Old Friends Do
Träumerei
Vilja Song
The Beautiful Blue Danube
Amazing Grace
I Could Have Danced All Night
Those Were the Days
Trumpet Voluntary
Lara's Theme
Leichte Kavallerie
Alte Kameraden
Smile
Panis Angelicus
Radetzkymarsch
Can't Help Falling in Love
UPC: 8719326407913Label: Andre RieuRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
In 1758 the London publisher John Walsh, sensing a marketing opportunity, issued a collection of harpsichord sonatas under the name of Johann Adolf Hasse. The volume includes genuine compositions by Hasse alongside some works that are in all likelihood not by him. Walsh's editorial decisions reveal a discerning musical judgment, and the pieces gathered in the collection are of consistently high quality. The present recording offers the complete set, performed on an original 1768 harpsichord by the Amsterdam builder Carl Fredrik Laescke. UPC: 0761742693461Label: Glaux RecordsRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
Ireneo Fuser was born in Carbonera (Treviso) on 12 November 1902. In 1925, he graduated in organ at the Liceo musicale «Benedetto Marcello» in Venice under the tuition of Oreste Ravanello and later specialized in Rome with Fernando Germani. In 1927, he graduated in piano at the Conservatory in Parma and, in 1935, in composition at the Conservatory in Florence. In 1928, he won the competition to succeed Ulisse Matthey as organist at the Sanctuary of Loreto, a position he did not hold, however. He undertook a brilliant concert career that was marked by a broad repertoire, refined recording skills, great virtuosity, and musical sensitivity that made him one of the most important Italian organists of his generation. From the 1940s onwards, he has given organ recitals for Swiss radio and RAI in live or recorded Sunday programmes in Rome and Turin, which have been on the broadcast schedules for more than twenty years. At the same time, he carried out teaching activities first at the Licei musicali in Venice and Pescara and then in Bologna, where he was established in 1939 as an organ teacher at the Institute that three years later would become the Conservatorio «G. B. Martini». A firm believer in the phonic excellence of the ancient Italian organ, he shaped his activity with the noble aim of enhancing the glorious period of Italian musical art of the past; among his countless musicological works, the anthology «Classici italiani dell'organo» (1955) is still considered a reference work today. UPC: 8007194200768Label: Tactus RecordsRelease Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
Leonardo Garcia-Alarcon's first major composition, La Passione di Gesu, is a "canonical labyrinth in the form of an oratorio," a tribute to counterpoint and to all the composers who have magnified this art, Johann Sebastian Bach foremost among them. Inspired by the Gospel of Judas, it is a passion for our times, which gives a special place to the figure of the apostle who betrayed Christ, and to the women who surrounded him. With his ensemble Cappella Mediterranea and a team of loyal and highly committed soloists, the Argentine conductor invites us on an extraordinary journey in the form of a labyrinthine tale - a la Jorge Luis Borges, another source of inspiration - crossing languages, styles and instruments, both modern and ancient, including, of course, the bandoneon: "The coded instructions that accompany the sung text are like puzzles to be solved to help the listener find their way out of the labyrinth-or not," concludes Leonardo Garcia-Alarcon. UPC: 3701624512111Label: AlphaRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
Andres Gabetta (violin & direction), Veronica Cangemi, Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi (bandoneon and accordion), and the Gabetta Consort present From Venice to Buenos Aires, a remarkable journey from 18th-century Venice to the streets of Buenos Aires. Anchored by Vivaldi's dazzling concertos and the fiery passion of Astor Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires, the album traces Italian music across centuries and continents. Luca Salvadori's inventive compositions, including the commissioned Overture: Tango-Baroque and Mater Maria, weave Baroque structures with Nuevo Tango rhythms, creating a breathtaking dialogue between old and new.The album is a tribute to women, with Maria as a common thread. From the violin concerto dedicated to Anna Maria, to Piazzolla's arias written for female voices, to the evocative works by Salvadori, the album celebrates feminine presence, strength, and artistry across time and styles.The recording also features operatic gems by Bononcini and Vinci, alongside Piazzolla's expressive arias, from the defiant "Yo soy Maria" to a tender Ave Maria arranged for violin, bandoneon, and soprano. From Venice to Buenos Aires is a vibrant, immersive exploration of music's power to tell stories across worlds - where sacred and secular, past and present meet in melodies both timeless and exhilarating. UPC: 8717306265034Label: PentatoneRelease Date: 5.22.26Format: CD
Paying homage to Leipzig and the Gewandhausorchester, the city and ensemble at the core of Felix Mendelssohn's artistic identity, Andris Nelsons presents a compilation of the composer's Oratorios and Symphonies. Deutsche Grammophon proudly notes that this release marks the first full-length rendition of "Paulus," a remarkably formative score that had so far been absent from the Yellow Label's expansive catalog. Nelsons is joined by a stellar cast of soloists for the vocal works, and bolstered by the incredible musicians of the Gewandhausorchester, for whom he serves as Music Director, for fresh interpretations of the Symphonies. 7-CD box set in Capbox packaging. UPC: 028948681785Label: Deutsche GrammophonRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
A vibrant collection of chamber works spanning different periods of Alberto Ginastera's career, written for piano with strings or voice. Rooted in the rhythms and colors of traditional Argentine music yet infused with the bold spirit of cosmopolitan modernism, these pieces strike a compelling balance between heritage and innovation.Inspired by the lifelong passion of acclaimed Kraków pianist Andrzej Pikul for Argentina's most celebrated composer, this album highlights the expressive range, technical brilliance, and imaginative power of Ginastera's music, offering each performer a chance to shine with virtuosity and creative flair. UPC: 5902547022161Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
Reference Recordings proudly presents our first collaboration with the Oregon Symphony, in a spectacular live recording featuring composer and steel pannist Andy Akiho. Born in 1979 in Columbia, South Carolina, Mr. Akiho is a "trailblazing" (Los Angeles Times) Pulitzer Prize finalist and seven-time GRAMMYr-nominated composer whose bold works unravel intricate and unexpected patterns while surpassing preconceived boundaries of classical music. The multi- GRAMMYr Award nominated Oregon Symphony, led by Jean Vollum Music Director David Danzmayr, serves hundreds of thousands of people annually through concerts, educationinitiatives, and community programs. With a 129-year legacy, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. Recorded in superb audiophile sound, this exciting album was engineered by Mark Donahue and produced by Blanton Alspaugh, both multi-GRAMMYr winners. UPC: 030911276423Label: Reference RecordingsRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
Pianist Ann DuHamel releases the first volume of her commissioning project of solo works that are inspired by and draw attention to the climate change crisis. Featuring works by Laura Schwendinger, Judith Shatin, Juhi Bansal, Karen Lemon, Erick Tapia, Ian Dicke, Daniel Blinkhorn, and Gunter Gaupp, this collection is enlivened by the pathos with which the composers and DuHamel approach the underlying subject matter. UPC: 613527134532Label: New FocusRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
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