London-based German pianist and composer Bruno Heinen draws on classical compositions of the twentieth century and the jazz tradition in his works. Heinen's work has been described by The Guardian as eclectic, eccentric, and unobtrusively sophisticated. This album is inspired by Bela Bartok's Mikrokosmos and uses cells and ideas from volume 6 of Bartok's work, as well as lyrics in the form of Bartok quotations, to create a new suite. Bruno Heinen's quartet, The W, is a newly formed contemporary jazz combo featuring the charismatic British jazz singer Heidi Vogel. On drums is New Yorker Gene Calderazzo, who plays a leading role in the international jazz scene. The double bass is played by Italian Andrea Di Biase, who has performed with such greats as Norma Winstone and Kenny Wheeler. Like the four even lines that form the letter 'W', the four members of the group become 'one' to create a perfectly balanced and captivating new sound! UPC: 4250702802112Label: TyxartRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: CD
Preparing a quartet turns abstract notes into a living, breathing musical world. Working on Haydn's Op. 77 and Shaw's Entr'acte felt like stepping through Alice's looking glass, where past and present meet. Performing both works on gut strings and classical bows created a shared expressive language across centuries. Shaw's piece, inspired by Haydn's sudden shift to D-flat major, plays with surreal transitions and rich, woody textures. Haydn's quartets, though few in number, reveal clarity, lyricism, and daring rhythmic exploration. Historical editions opened new interpretive possibilities, reminding us that each performance captures only one moment in an evolving tradition. Together, these works form portals into contrasting eras, emotions, and perspectivesPreparing a quartet transforms notes and structures from something abstract into a vivid, living form. As we shaped Haydn's String Quartets Op. 77 and Caroline Shaw's Entr'acte, Alice's Looking Glass became a fitting metaphor-a portal through which past and present coexist. As a historically informed quartet, we study how older works first resonated with audiences while approaching new compositions with the same curiosity. Playing both Haydn and Shaw on gut strings and classical bows allows a shared expressive language across centuries.Shaw's Entr'acte was directly inspired by Haydn's Op. 77 No. 2, especially it's unexpected shift to D-flat major. Structured like a minuet and trio, her piece explores playful, surreal transitions that feel like stepping through the looking glass. We relished discovering how harmonics, extended techniques, and historical bows create woody, textured colors unique to gut strings. The constantly shifting meters and the pavane-like middle section offered further opportunities for imaginative shaping.Haydn's Op. 77, though influential, is his shortest quartet collection. Commissioned as six quartets, only two were completed. We open Wait Till the Clouds Roll By with the second quartet in F major. It's first movement balances clarity with a misty, exploratory development. The Menuet feels rhythmically unstable before dissolving into the dreamy Trio. The Andante's serene theme and variations momentarily suspend time before the Finale jolts us awake. In working with historical editions-full of contradictions-we embrace the interpretive possibilities they offer, knowing a recording captures only one moment in an evolving tradition.In the G major quartet, a static yet expectant opening gives way to fragmented, lively exchanges. The Adagio offers spaciousness and sublime calm. Haydn's virtuosic Presto movements inspired us to experiment with tempo, including the daring 1854 metronome markings by Karol Lipinski.Wait Till the Clouds Roll By reflects our belief that music, like Alice's journey, helps us navigate a world of beauty, confusion, humor, and transformation. Through Haydn and Shaw, we experience portals between eras, emotions, and perspectives.The Butter Quartet consists of four musicians brought together by their mutual love of vibrant historically-informed performance of string quartets. They first formed during their studies at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, but soon developed a passion and dynamic that extended beyond their conservatory years. They released their debut album 'Scintilla' in July 2024 with Brilliant Classics. The Butter Quartet enjoys integrating their research on late 18th- and early 19th-century performance practice into powerful performances. They also bring the same spirit of discovery to newly-composed works for historically-setup instruments. UPC: 5063758700337Label: Brilliant ClassicsRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
With Loop Tales, Camille El Bacha and Naghib Shanbehzadeh bring Western classical piano into dialogue with Persian and Middle Eastern percussion. The piano evokes echoes of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel, and Steve Reich, while percussion adds a vibrant rhythmic dimension. Each piece unfolds as a looping narrative built on repetition and evolving cycles that gradually transform. Piano and percussion create an immersive counterpoint where musical traditions intersect, shaping a sonic space in which cultures meet and reinvent themselves.Rooted in a shared desire to explore repetition as a living musical material, the album invites listeners into an intimate sound world shaped by subtle variation, resonance, and rhythmic energy.Concert pianist, composer, and improviser Camille El Bacha has developed a personal musical language bridging classical heritage and contemporary creativity. Alongside him, percussionist Naghib Shanbehzadeh draws on the rhythmic traditions of southern Iran, forming a deeply collaborative musical journey. UPC: 5400439008618Label: Fuga Libera LabelRelease Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
For so many, coming out is framed as a kind of reckoning-a threshold one must cross, as if queerness begins in secrecy and only later earns the right to be spoken aloud. That narrative suggests burden before freedom, fear before love. But why should love require courage simply to exist? Such is the world we've inherited. For centuries, desire that fell outside society's narrow definitions was forced underground, met with shame, exile, or silence. In that silence, letters became a refuge: fragile but fearless vessels for truths that could not be safely expressed aloud.The Secret Letter re-imagines a program of the same name performed by Cantus in the spring of 2025, weaving music together with excerpts from letters by Marcus Aurelius, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and others. These interludes offer fleeting access to private moments of longing, devotion, and vulnerability, while the surrounding music expands and amplifies their emotional terrain, carrying forward their tension, tenderness, restraint, and release. Letters are remarkable things. They are both private and exposed, meant for a single reader yet capable of outliving both the writer and recipient. Passed between trembling hands, they hold confessions, desires, and love stories told in ink rather than whispers. The Secret Letter bears witness and celebrates queer love that has always existed-persistent, imaginative, and worthy of song-and that even in secrecy, has found ways to speak, to sing, and to survive. UPC: 635212102428Label: Signum ClassicsRelease Date: 8.14.26Format: CD
Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the most universal figures in Western history, venerated not only by the Catholic tradition but also by Protestant and Orthodox communities, as well as by many non-Christians drawn to his message of poverty, fraternity, and love for creation. This recording offers a sonic journey through the 13th and 14th centuries, focusing on the spiritual and intellectual context of the Order of Friars Minor on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of his death (1226-2026). UPC: 8216116226612Label: Capella De MinistrerRelease Date: 5.22.26Format: CD
A first-ever complete recording for collections of Baroque chamber music which capture the elegance, formality, and lively culture of London in the 1710s.London in the early 18th century was a city animated by music: Italian opera dominated the newly built theatres, French-style dances brought refinement to the salons, and the English cathedral tradition had fully adapted to a native style of text setting. It was from within this vibrant soundscape that William Babell (c. 1690-1723) emerged-an English musician of remarkable versatility, whose keyboard brilliance and expressive chamber works captured the spirit of his place and time.Babell's first teacher was his father, a bassoonist in the orchestra of the Drury Lane Theatre. He rapidly followed in his father's footsteps, playing in the private band of King George I, and was appointed organist of All Hallows, Bread Street, a position he held until his untimely death. His reputation as a keyboard virtuoso was widespread; Johann Mattheson extolled his organ playing as even superior to Handel's.As for his own music, it's principal surviving remnants are these two collections of sonatas dating from 1716 and 1720. They were conceived for oboe or violin with continuo; the musicians of Cappella Musicale Enrico Stuart have taken a fairly liberal approach, by sharing the melody part in the different sonatas between violin, flute, and oboe, which are supported by a rich continuo group of bassoon, cello, and harpsichord or organ. Not the least attractive aspect of this solution is it's variety across the sequence of 24 sonatas.The influence of Arcangelo Corelli-the Roman violinist-composer whose Op. 5 sonatas (published in 1700) shaped much of 18th-century chamber style across Europe-is evident in Babell's approach. Babell's sonata structure-especially the slow-fast alternation, proportions of movements, and rhythmic gesture-bears the stamp of this Corellian model, though with English lightness and a flair for ornamentation. This arrangement not only showcases the instrumental diversity at the heart of the two volumes of sonatas, but also evokes the experience of an 18th-century London salon, where violin, oboe, and flute might seamlessly succeed one another in an evening of chamber music. UPC: 5063758970952Label: Brilliant ClassicsRelease Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
Sergei Prokofiev's nine piano sonatas, composed between 1909 and 1951, are a monumental body of work that showcases the composer's stylistic evolution through a turbulent period of history. Renowned for their virtuosictechnical demands and psychological depth, the sonatas are considered a cornerstone of the 20th-century piano repertoire. The famous "War Sonatas" (Nos. 6, 7, and 8) are among his most significant and powerful works.Acclaimed pianist Carlo Grante is celebrated for his vast repertoire, commanding technique, and scholarly interpretations. A prolific recording artist, he is particularly renowned for making the first-ever complete recordingof Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas performed by a single pianist. In addition to Scarlatti, his recordings cover a vast spectrum of composers, from established masters like Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms to lesser known composers and contemporary figures like Busoni and Godowsky. Many contemporary composers have dedicated works to Grante, including Bruce Adolphe (Chopin Dreams), Roman Vlad (Opus Triplex), and Michael Finnissy.Praised for his technical mastery and profound musicianship, Fabio Luisi, the former Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, described Carlo Grante as "one of the most astonishing artists I have ever known and worked with." Vienna's Die Presse dubbed him "a knight of the piano, without blemish and without fear." UPC: 017685131127Label: Music & Arts ProgramRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
Great vocal masterpieces are given a new voice in a boldand poetic programme by Spanish saxophonist CarlosGimenez who showcases the instrument's profoundlylyrical side, capable of breathing, sighing and singing withstartling emotional immediacy. Together with pianist JoseAlberto del Cerro, the songful qualities, richness ofcolours and genuine human expressivity of works byMompou, Rachmaninoff, Montsalvatge, Wagner andObradors are transformed into luminous "songs withoutwords", revealing the saxophone's hidden vocal soul. UPC: 760623239064Label: MdgRelease Date: 6.19.26Format: CD
The Swiss-Franco-American virtuoso, Celeste-Marie Roy, elevates the sonorous splendour of the bassoon to vibrant new heights with her flexible tone, technical finesse and striking interpretation of melodious and highly virtuosic works from the 20th and 21st centuries. UPC: 760623237961Label: MdgRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
Transcriptions for two harpsichords of works by Gdansk composers and Kapellmeisters, spanning the mature Renaissance through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.The album's title evokes the vogue for monumental polychoral compositions that once enriched the daily life of Gdansk's patrician society. Through bold reconstructions and the virtuosic artistry of two harpsichordists affiliated with the Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdansk, the works of these ambitious masters of old Gdansk are given a new voice - radiant with a splendour worthy of the gilded interiors of Artus Court. UPC: 5902547022291Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
Famously invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, the saxophone quickly became an established part of French and British military bands, but remained a novelty instrument elsewhere until it gained a foothold in vaudeville and ragtime bands in 1920s America. From there, it became an essential part of dance bands, and a prominent solo instrument in jazz. A great deal of this early development can be attributed to one musician - Rudy Wiedoeft. Born into a musical family, Rudy became a virtuoso clarinettist at an early age, before becoming obsessed with the saxophone in 1914. Coinciding with the start of the dance craze, he was convinced he could make a better living as saxophonist than as an orchestral clarinettist and spent the following years forming and running bands for nightclubs and cabaret, and writing and recording his own virtuosic pieces for saxophone. Concentrating on recording over performing, he became a household name, but the emergence of the jazz era and it's new star musicians eventually overshadowed his work, and his achievements and influence slipped into obscurity. Multi-instrumentalist, educator, and virtuoso saxophonist, Chad Smith instigated this album both as a tribute to and in order to shine a light on this largely forgotten innovator. A veteran of Broadway since 2002, Smith has made an astonishing career which spans live and studio work at the highest level, featuring in a diverse range of soundtracks from Star Wars to The Simpsons. He has appeared as a soloist with most of America's premier symphony orchestras, and has collaborated with innumerable artists such as Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Lady Gaga. UPC: 0095115539026Label: ChandosRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: CD
The programme of the latest recording by the distinguished choir 441 Hz brings together works by composers from a wide range of cultural traditions, from Scandinavia to the Philippines. Their shared expressive thread is a meditation on the phenomenon of light-it's symbolism, radiance, and transformative power. These composers write for mixed choir, enriched here by the subtle colours of violin, Tibetan singing bowls, handbells, and even water-tuned glasses.Yet for all it's imaginative scoring, the programme is far removed from the world of avant-garde experiment. Instead, it unfolds in a language of luminous harmonies, deeply affecting solo voices, and expansive musical forms, creating an atmosphere of serenity and inward reflection. UPC: 5902547022260Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
The compositions of Rev. Michal Roman Szulik-conductor, musicologist, and composer-stand as a testament to the musical life of the community gathered around the cathedral in Siedlce. Their defining quality lies in the composer's devoted preservation of the stylistic language of sacred music. Written for a cappella choir or with organ accompaniment, these settings of texts-ranging from medieval psalms and hymns to contemporary works-reveal a profound command of the history of liturgical vocal music, while also reflecting the composer's deep reverence for a tradition cultivated over many centuries. UPC: 5902547021621Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
Venture beyond the familiar canon with these charming septets by Conradin Kreutzer and Friedrich Witt. Rich in colour, elegant and effortlessly virtuosic, these works unveil the vibrant chamber music tradition that flourished alongside Beethoven. Performed with finesse and warmth by the Charis Ensemble, this album stands as an enriching addition to the connoisseur's collection. UPC: 760623239729Label: MdgRelease Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and it's Music Director Jader Bignamini present Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, one of the most electrifying works of the twentieth century. Drawing on thirteenth-century manuscripts from Benediktbeuern Abbey, Orff transformed the exuberant, irreverent texts of wandering scholars and rebellious clerics into a monumental scenic cantata. From the iconic opening of "O Fortuna" to the exuberant outdoor dances, tavern scenes, and courtly love interludes, the work pulses with elemental rhythms and striking orchestration, with chorus, percussion, two pianos, and celesta playing central roles. Motifs from "O Fortuna" recur throughout, linking the contrasting worlds of humour, erotic longing, and the inexorable wheel of fate.Orff balances diatonic simplicity with rhythmic ostinati, while movements such as the flute-timpani duet, castanets solo, and piano-percussion passages evoke primal energy and recall Stravinsky's Les noces. From the introspective soprano arias in "In trutina" to the sardonic baritone tavern numbers, the score alternates between joy, melancholy, and satire, culminating in the final return of "O Fortuna" to close the cycle. Following their acclaimed release of Marsalis' Blues Symphony in March 2025, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Jader Bignamini return to PENTATONE, reaffirming their mastery of landmark repertoire. UPC: 8717306265195Label: PentatoneRelease Date: 6.26.26Format: CD
The new album from Chopin Piano Duo - artists of international renown, deeply committed to exploring the repertoire for four hands and two pianos - brings back to light works by four composers once esteemed as pianists and influential figures in musical life, yet long overshadowed by the towering fame of Frederic Chopin and Ignacy Jan Paderewski.Their music reveals a clear affirmation of Chopin's genius, with echoes of his style and characteristic forms resonating throughout. Swierzynski's cycle of miniatures and a work by Stattler were edited and prepared for publication from manuscript sources by Chopin Piano Duo themselves, and are presented here in their world premiere recordings! UPC: 5902547022437Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
PoetryChopin's piano concertos are the perfect fusion of virtuosity and heartfelt expression. In this edition, Christian Zacharias brings every intimate and exuberant moment to life with unparalleled sensitivity. Listeners will be captivated by the lyrical depth and poetic nuance of each movement.ClarityRecorded in the historic Salle Metropole with MDG's signature audiophile approach, this release delivers an immersive, natural sound. Newly remixed and mastered for Super Audio CD, every note resonates with clarity, depth, and spatial precision. The result is a listening experience that feels both immediate and timeless.SynergyZacharias' long-standing partnership with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne shines throughout these performances. The orchestra provides an attentive, finely balanced accompaniment, allowing the pianist's interpretation to flourish. This synergy transforms every passage into a vivid, emotionally engaging musical dialogue.LegacyOriginally recorded in 2003, this edition preserves the freshness and brilliance of the original sessions. It is a milestone in MDG's Preziosa series, offering a rare combination of historical insight, artistic excellence, and technical mastery. A must-have for collectors, audiophiles, and classical music enthusiasts alike. UPC: 760623239163Label: MdgRelease Date: 5.15.26Format: CD
If you talk about the Viennese School at the beginning of the 20th century, his name will certainly be mentioned alongside Schonberg, Berg and Webern, even though he broke away from the "twelve-tone" school early on and went his own harmonic way: Egon Wellesz, born in Vienna, one of Schonberg's first pupils and a musicology student of Guido Adler: he would need both of these educations in his life. Until the outbreak of the war, he was one of the most frequently performed composers in the German-speaking world, and his five operas were successfully performed at the largest German theaters. At this time, however, he was already a professor of musicology and had specialized in deciphering Byzantine musical notation. Then came the break: in 1938 he was forced to emigrate to England, although he was able to continue his university career at Oxford. The composer Wellesz remained silent until the end of the war, only then did he return to full creative power, writing almost half of his works after the age of 60. The nine symphonies are undoubtedly the main works of this late period. The emigrant deliberately drew on Austrian symphonic music; for him, his symphonic works probably also meant coming to terms with the loss of his homeland. UPC: 761203573929Label: Cpo RecordsRelease Date: 6.19.26Format: CD
Violinist and violist Christine Wu, winner of the Outhere Music Recording Prize at the inaugural Berlin Prize for Young Artists, explores the relationship between time and memory in her new album Recollection(s) for Channel Classics. On violin, she performs Saariaho's Nocturne, where memories attempt to shatter the boundlessness of time; Bach's Chaconne, where the repeating harmonic progression inherent to the form evokes reverence, hope, and transcendence; and Jeffrey Mumford's eight musings... revisiting memories, a reimagining of musical fragments from earlier works. On viola, Wu presents Joan Tower's Wild Purple and Weinberg's Viola Sonata No. 2, Op. 123, where recurring rhythmic cells address the fragmented nature of recollection; and Stravinsky's Elegy, showcasing logical progressions of memories. UPC: 723385486268Label: Channel ClassicsRelease Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
Folklore takes the listener on a musical journey throughout 19th and 20th century France, Georgia, Hungary and Spain. Through different styles and soundscapes, the compositions are united by the spirit of folk traditions and national character, as well as personal memories of the performers - Swiss-French cellist Christoph Croise and Georgian pianist Ana Bakradze. Works originally conceived for their instrumental combination sit alongside transcriptions that fit their sound world like a glove, a testament to the popularity of all the music on this album.Siete Canciones populares Españolas, a set of seven traditional Spanish songs by Manuel de Falla, is his most-arranged composition and among his most popular. Bela Bartok's Six Romanian Folk Dances, originally composed for solo piano, were drawn from melodies the composer recorded of folk musicians singing in the countryside of his Hungarian homeland. Hungarian influences infuse Pablo de Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs), originally scored for violin and orchestra. Sulkhan Tsintsadze's Five Pieces on Georgian Folk Themes evoke childhood memories for pianist Ana, especially the fourth, a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her.The most substantial work on the album, Robert Schumann's Funf Stucke i'm Volkston (Five Pieces in Folk Style) conjures the harmonies and rhythms of folk music.French national character imbues Nadia Boulanger's Trois pièces (Three Pieces) and works by her teacher Gabriel Faure: his elegant Sicilienne - originally penned for orchestra but frequently adapted for cello and piano - and his ever-popular miniature 'Après un rêve' (After a dream) from his Trois Melodies (Three Melodies).When asked about their own connections to this music and what they wish for the listener, Christoph and Ana agree, "Above all, joy! We share a love for the roots in these pieces and the inspiration they provided to the composers. For this album, we've selected our favourite miniatures. Some are well known, others are more personal, but they all connect to the spirit of folk traditions in some way. It's about the lasting pleasure of connecting through music we love." UPC: 822252283723Label: AvieRelease Date: 7.10.26Format: CD
Composed in 1680, Proserpine marks the reunion of Lully and Quinault after the scandal surrounding Isis (1677). Set in the splendour of Saint-Germain, the work offers a mythological mirror to the Dauphin's wedding. In it, Lully revolutionises his art: the orchestra becomes the driving force of the drama while the voices gain in expressive intensity. Under the baton of Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques revive this gem in which the fate of a captive queen and the splendour of restored peace unite in immortal harmony. UPC: 3760385430782Label: Chateau VersaillesRelease Date: 5.22.26Format: CD
To speak of Franz Liszt is to enter a world in which categories collapse. Virtuoso, visionary, reformer, celebrity, mystic - none of these labels is sufficient, and yet each illuminates a facet of a musician whose creative presence reshaped 19th-century musical life. He inhabited his age with a rare duality: outwardly the most electrifying pianist Europe had ever known, inwardly a thinker preoccupied with the ethical, spiritual and imaginative potential of art. That tension - between public spectacle and private enquiry - lies at the heart of an oeuvre whose range and unpredictability remain without parallel.Liszt's early fame rested on a pianistic style that expanded the technical and expressive boundaries of the instrument. His performances were not merely demonstrations of dexterity but events that altered the nature of concert listening itself, whether in orchestral appearances or in the solo recital format he effectively established. However, virtuosity was never an end in itself. From the 1830s onward, Liszt's compositions increasingly acknowledged poetic, literary and philosophical impulses, often signaled through titles, epigraphs or extra-musical associations. This stimulus would later crystallise in his codification of the symphonic poem, but it was equally present in his keyboard music, where narrative, argument and symbolism frequently replace abstract formal logic.A central expression of this aesthetic is Liszt's lifelong engagement with the march - a genre that might seem, on the surface, to withstand the kind of reflective complexity he prized. The march offered something irresistible: a form already laden with public meaning, ripe for reinterpretation. In his hands, it's regulated tread becomes a medium for ambiguity, it's grand gestures inflected with harmonic adventurousness, it's civic pronouncements quietly complicated by covert sensibility. The same impulse that drove him to revisit and rework earlier compositions in the light of new understanding shaped his relationship to the genre as a whole: returning to it across decades, he treated it not as a fixed form but as an evolving channel for dramatic, national and personal expression. UPC: 747313469871Label: NaxosRelease Date: 8.28.26Format: CD
The Holy Liftoff (2024) is the 11th installation of Claire Chase's 24-year Density 2036 project, an initiative to create a bold new repertory for the flute by the 100th anniversary of Edgard Varèse's seminal 1936 flute solo, Density 21.5. Density 2036 has been called "one of the great musical undertakings of our time" by The New York Times, and "a quarter-century journey that has little precedent" by The New Yorker. Terry Riley began composing The Holy Liftoff in 2022 as an open score sketchbook brimming with colorful drawings that were intended to be played by Chase with any number of collaborating musicians. Over the following two years, the sketches evolved into a multidimensional work that now combines extensive through-composed material as well as graphic notation, evocative artwork, and Riley's signature open-form scoring that can be freely interpreted by the performers in variable durations and ensemble formations. Samuel Clay Birmaher's 60-minute realization of the work, which he composed in close collaboration with Riley and the performers, is scored for multiple flutes and string quartet. "When I improvised the first 16 bars of 'The Holy Liftoff' the melody and the chords whispered it's name while simultaneously urging me to make drawings of the experience. The drawings had angels and flying creatures and all the energies were rising up into a surrealistic skyscape... This piece could only have been written for Claire Chase." -Terry Riley UPC: 053479229007Label: Sono LuminusRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
Clara Osowski lends her lush mezzo-soprano to 19 lieder penned by Franz Schubert during the last 13 years of the composer's all too short life. Landscape abounds in this collection - lakes, rushing streams, the rising moon, stars, flowers, birdsong. True to Schubert's conception, the American mezzo - who makes her solo debut recording with this release - considers her voice and that of pianist Timothy Lovelace equal partners. UPC: 822252286427Label: AvieRelease Date: 8.21.26Format: CD
In her fourth CD release, recorder player Clara Guldberg Ravn turns to the recorder concertos of Georg Philipp Telemann. The recording reveals the full expressive range of this music, from elegant lightness and dance-like energy to moments of quiet melancholy and subtle humor. Together with members of Concerto Copenhagen, a vivid and well-balanced overall sound emerges, clearly highlighting the dialogic character of the works. Virtuosity consistently serves musical expression. This recording offers direct access to Telemann's recorder music and invites listeners to rediscover it's emotional depth and variety. UPC: 4260412810574Label: ArcantusRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: CD
SOMM Recordings is delighted to collaborate again with I Musicanti, directed by virtuoso double-bass player Leon Bosch and praised by The Strad for their 'performances of passion and insight.' This latest release features the Brazilian-born, London-based pianist Clelia Iruzun, whose frequent SOMM collaborations include the International Classical Music Award-nominated Piano Concertos by Albeniz & Mignone with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jac van Steen.This release highlights five notable Brazilian composers from generations that succeeded the singular Brazilian composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos. While their names might not be as familiar as their famous compatriot, the musical qualities of their compositions-all scored for the forces of Schubert's 'Trout' Quintet-are revelatory. The programme opens and closes with works by Edmundo Villani-Cortes (b. 1930) who acknowledges the early influence of Shostakovich and French Impressionism. He composed his 5 Miniaturas brasileiras in 1978 for flute and piano, and their immediate success led to no fewer than seventeen transcriptions for a variety of instrumental combinations. Caratinguê, a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil, lends it's name to the work by Villani-Cortes that closes this programme. It combines art and folk music to conjure the lively rhythms and irresistible musical atmosphere of Brazil.Joao Guilherme Ripper (b.1959), who received his D.M.A. in Composition at Catholic University of America, in Washington D.C., later served as composer-in-residence at Kean University in New Jersey, which commissioned From My Window No. 3 in 2011. Ripper describes this three-movement work-heard here in it's first recording-as portraying aspects of his native city, from the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro to feelings of nostalgia. A short Song Without Words, Cancao sem palavras, is by Arrigo Barnabe (b. 1951), one of the first and most talented adherents from a movement of urban classically trained musicians in the city of Sao Paulo who added erudite experimentations to pop music. His varied output also includes soundtracks for around half a dozen Brazilian movies.The works of pianist-composer Jose Carlos Amaral Vieira show his ability to write brilliantly for the piano and his intense involvement with the music of Franz Liszt. His Piano Quintet Fronteiras (Frontiers), a reflection on cultural and sonic boundaries, is characterized by Amaral Vieira's distinctive blend of rigorous technical structure and profound emotion.Like Amaral Viera, Marisa Rezende (b.1944) began her musical life as a pianist. She started composing when she was a piano student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she later returned to complete a doctorate in composition. Cismas (Schisms) lives up to it's name, evolving as it does through contrasting segments of gloom, luminosity, and energy. UPC: 748871072923Label: Somm RecordingsRelease Date: 8.21.26Format: CD
Saxophonist Clio Theodoridis and pianist Jonathan Nemtanu present their debut album, Nostos, named after the ancient Greek word for "return" or "homecoming." The album traces a musical and personal odyssey shaped by movement between cultures, places, and musical traditions. From Suite hellenique by Pedro Iturralde, rooted in Greek heritage and Mediterranean colour, to Recit et Lied, Op. 31 by Canadian composer Mathieu Lussier, the program reflects a life lived between past and present, departure and arrival. Works by Fazil Say, Suite for Saxophone and Piano, Op. 55, and Alexis Ciesla, Ocres rouges, further occupy musical crossroads between East and West, tradition and innovation, forming a cohesive program that highlights the expressive range of the saxophone-piano duo. Born in Athens and now based in Quebec, Clio Theodoridis is recognized for the finesse and depth of her playing across the classical saxophone repertoire. Pianist Jonathan Nemtanu combines an active career as a chamber musician with cultural leadership, and is noted for his musical dialogue and artistic vision. Together, they perform as Duo Aster. UPC: 3191684112121Label: Leaf MusicRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
Schone Welt, wo bist du? These words by Friedrich Schiller are the first of this new project, an exploration of existence, wandering and mourning. Coline Dutilleul has conceived a programme in which keyboard works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Lieder by Franz Schubert echo themes of melancholy and death: inner states that music makes perceptible through tempo, texture and harmony. These works trace a journey marked by absence and resilience in which agitation, renunciation and appeasement follow one another like the stages of mourning. UPC: 5400439008649Label: Fuga Libera LabelRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
The Ensemble Concerto Koln embark on a journey into the Baroque era and present Violin Concertos by Corelli, Somis, Valentini, Mascitti, Vivaldi. For the recording they are accompanied by the excellent Russian violinist Evgeni Sviridov.Arcangelo Corelli, who lived and died in Rome, is considered a typical representative of classical Italian violin music and, as such, had a strong influence on all his younger contemporaries, whose works can be heard on this album. UPC: 885470044774Label: Berlin ClassicsRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
The end of life is a defining aspect of all itinerant journeys. Death serves as a poignant throughline for the album, as each piece chronicles a magnificent, nostalgic, surreal, or horrific journey, leading to death in some way. The interrelationship between humankind and nature-or gross manipulation of it in the case of Poison Mushroom-creates an expressive arc and subtheme. UPC: 044747412627Label: CentaurRelease Date: 8.14.26Format: CD
On 21 August 2026, Divine Art is thrilled to release the world premiere recording of Piedra de sol (Sunstone), acclaimed composer Joby Talbot's stunning choral setting of Mexican poet Octavio Paz's epic masterpiece, performed by GRAMMY Award-winning choir Conspirare and Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson. Drawing on the symbolism of the Aztec calendar stone, Octavio Paz's poem Piedra de sol (1957) is like no other. It uses techniques of modern poetry, particularly surrealist imagery, to meditate on cyclical time and the possibility of breaking it's grip through poetry and love, as explained by Adela Pineda Franco of the University of Texas at Austin in her excellent booklet article. The poem had a profound emotional impact on Joby Talbot: '..the hugeness of the poet's vision; the cosmic immensity of the imagery; the febrile surrealistic intensity of a sensory journey through space and time from reality to fantasy and back again; the sudden moments of heartfelt intimacy that never fail to surprise.' The seventy-minute-long musical structure mirrors the poem's narrative journey from ecstatic vision, through deep despair, to eventual enlightenment. It features a wide range of vocal textures, extended passages of complex rhythmic interplay, exposed solo passages for a single voice, and episodes where slabs of sound reflect the poem's terrifying images. Colouring much of the music is the marimba (superbly played by Thomas Burritt), which anchors the harmonies and rhythm and contributes to the otherworldly character of the musical palette. Piedra de sol invites listeners and performers alike on a journey of infinite dimensions - a voyage whose course bends, advances, recedes, comes full circle, and arrives forever. London-born Joby Talbot is a leading composer for concert, stage, and screen. He has written widely for voice and choir, setting poetry, sacred, and historical texts for varying ensembles. Prominent within Talbot's catalogue are his works for stage and screen. His operas Everest (2014) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2020) both explore themes of despair and endurance, while his collaboration with leading choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has produced original full-length narrative ballet adaptations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2010), The Winter's Tale (2013), Like Water for Chocolate (2021), and the life of Oscar Wilde (Oscar, 2024). Talbot has also scored major feature films The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Sing (2016), Sing 2 (2021), and Wonka (2023).Conspirare is a professional choral organization under the leadership of Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson. Inspired by the power of music to change lives, this ensemble engages singers from around the world who join voices to deliver world-class, extraordinary live musical experiences and recordings. Their discography includes 17 commercial albums and 20 self-produced live albums. Hella Johnson and Conspirare were awarded a 2015 GRAMMY for Best Choral Performance for The Sacred Spirit of Russia, and their recordings have received 12 total nominations, including for advena: liturgies for a broken world: music of Mark Buller, released in 2025 on Divine Art. Conspirare has also been recognized with the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkrtik for it's Path of Miracles album (2015) and the Edison Award in the Choral Music category (2010). Conspirare has performed throughout the United States and internationally. On this recording, the choir includes tenor Haitham Haidar (whose recently released debut album Zaytoun on Athene was nominated for a JUNO Award), Savannah Porter of Voces8, early music specialists Jonathan Woody and Dann Coakwell, and the incredible Basso Profundo Glenn Miller. UPC: 809730115028Label: Divine ArtRelease Date: 8.21.26Format: CD
It 'doesn't take long before one is captivated by Emilie Mayer's spirited and distinctive music. The same applies to the Constanze Quartet's interpretation, which does full justice to the music. We can look forward to [...] Vol. 2,' remarked a well-known blogger after discovering three string quartets by the Mecklenburg composer (CD cpo 555 600-2). This man is in good company, and he will not be the only one to savour the second instalment of the planned complete recordings with great pleasure. Emilie Mayer, celebrated during her lifetime primarily as a symphonist, proves herself a masterful exponent of classical forms, subtle plays of musical lines and delicate harmonies, even in the supreme discipline of chamber music. Many will regret that only seven of her twelve quartets have survived - just enough to fill a third CD in the near future. UPC: 761203560127Label: Cpo RecordsRelease Date: 8.21.26Format: CD
The Animal Music label releases two orchestral works by contemporary Czech composers, Ondrej Kukal (1964) and Jiri Teml (1935). The two compositions have much in common. Not just their autobiographical inspiration and the theme of memory, but each represents a significant milestone in it's composer's career and life. While in Ondrej Kukal's case, the motif of remembrancehas a symbolic value, providing a reference to the illness that caused the author to lose his memory in 2003, in Jiri Teml's work, remembering is the main theme, as he uses musical images to recount memories of his life. Ondrej Kukal's Symphony No. 1, 'With Glockenspiel', holds symbolic significance for the composer. Kukal is a triple threat as conductor, composer and violinist. He wrote the composition in 1999, at the height of his career, during his tenure with the South Czech Philharmonic in Ceske Budejovice. From 1993, he also conducted the Czech Chamber Orchestra and between 1996 and 2003 served as concertmaster of the Prague Chamber Orchestra, performing at venues such as New York's Lincoln Centre, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and Vienna's Musikverein. In 2003, shortly before he was to conduct the opening concert of the Prague Spring festival, he suddenly fell ill with viral meningoencephalitis, suffering from amnesia as a result. Luckily, he retained his musical memory and believes that it was what saved him in the end. Although Symphony No. 1 originated in the phase before his illness, Kukal speculates in an interview with Lubos Stehlik about it foreshadowing what was to come later: 'It occurs to me that I brought that fall upon myself with the symphony. I set it to music there, as if I had predicted the fall. Sometimes I can sense things in advance, and I translate this sense into music.' Musicologist Vlasta Reittererova describes the work thus: 'The music flows, rising and falling until it reaches a final outburst in a catastrophe, followed by a release of tension as it moves towards catharsis, like an ancient tragedy, reminding us of a funeral march when a solitarychime and a muffled strike of the tympani sound amidst the fading strings.' The symphony was premiered on 12 April 2000 in Ceske Budejovice. In 2005, it was awarded the annual prize of the Copyright Protection Association for Music Rights. The recording on this album is of a performance by the Czech Philharmonic in 2024, conducted by Jakub Hrusa. Jiri Teml's Labyrinth of Memory was commissioned by the Czech Philharmonic in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the premiere had to be postponed and did not take place until 5 February 2025 when the Czech Philharmonic performed it under the baton of Tomas Netopil to mark the composer's 90th birthday. Jiri Teml began his musical journey as an autodidact, but his career has been studded by encounters with people who inspired him and helped him on the way. He studied composition privately with Jiri Jarocha and Bohumil Dusek. For many years, he worked as music programmer at the regional station of Czech Radio in Pilsen and later on at the Prague studios and collaborated with children's choirs and folk ensembles. Through his work as music programmer he was in close contact with new compositional trends and techniques of expression, drawing on these in his own work. Since the 1960s he has been dedicating himself to the composition of classical music, drawing on the legacy of early-twentieth-century luminaries, such as Stravinsky, Prokofiev or Janacek, but also on the works of musicians from more recent generations, including Miloslav Kabelac and Gyorgy Ligeti. Jiri Temlis the author of concertos for diverse instruments, including violin, French horn, oboe, organ and harpsichord, and he has written many works for various chamber ensembles, as well as cantatas and several children's operas. A number of his compositions, including Labyrinth of Memory, are inspired by literature and other extra-musical impulses. Musical ideas surface mysteriously and take unexpected shapes, like memories. A key role is played by the percussions section, including the glockenspiel and vibraphone, and the timbre of orchestral is completed with the sound of the piano and celesta. The rhythmically pronounced parts are counterbalanced by calmer passages. UPC: 8594211850773Label: Animal MusicRelease Date: 8.21.26Format: CD
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) is best known today for his vividly orchestrated symphonic poems, especially the Roman Trilogy (Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome, and Roman Festivals). Yet his reputation as a composer rests not only on orchestral color but also on a deep historical awareness and a refined command of chamber music. Trained in Bologna and later influenced by his studies with Rimsky-Korsakov in Russia, Respighi combined Italian lyricism with contrapuntal discipline and a fascination with musical antiquity.Respighi's chamber works reveal a more intimate side of his artistry, where structure and thematic development take precedence over orchestral spectacle. Among these, the Piano Quintet (1902) stands as one of his earliest substantial achievements. The quintet shows strong Romantic influences, particularly from Brahms and late German chamber traditions. It's expansive first movement, expressive slow movement, and vigorous finale demonstrate Respighi's early confidence in handling large forms and dense textures, while hints of his later harmonic individuality already emerge.The Double Quartet (1904), scored for two string quartets, reflects Respighi's interest in contrapuntal clarity and ensemble dialogue. Rather than treating the eight instruments as a single mass, he often sets the two quartets in conversation or opposition, creating spatial and textural contrasts. This work illustrates his growing fascination with polyphony and balance, qualities that would later underpin his neoclassical tendencies. The Doric Quartet (1924) represents Respighi's mature style and his engagement with ancient musical modes. Inspired by the Doric mode, the work aligns with his broader interest in early music, evident also in pieces like Ancient Airs and Dances. Here, Respighi adopts a restrained, almost austere language, favoring modal harmony, transparent textures, and rhythmic clarity. The quartet avoids overt Romantic excess, instead projecting a timeless, classical serenity.The DaVinci Ensemble is formed by outstanding Italian musicians, with the aim of making Italian chamber music known throughout the world. UPC: 5063758973793Label: Brilliant ClassicsRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
