SEAMUS (Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States) releases Volume 36, the 2026 iteration of it's long running series featuring new works by it's member composers. Featuring music by Alex Christie, Simon Hutchinson, Yao Hsiao, Margaret Ann Schedel, Connor Scroggins, and Marcin Paczkowski, the SEAMUS composers continue to push the boundaries of genre, showcasing the aesthetic possibilities of emerging and existing technologies. UPC: 780518613199Label: Seamus RecordsRelease Date: 6.12.26Format: 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
An unusual instrumental combination with a fascinating sound: sonatas for two oboes, bassoon, and basso continuo are rarely found in the repertoire. Yet this combination brings together three wind instruments whose tone colors complement one another in particularly appealing ways. Ramon Ortega Quero and angel Luis Sanchez Moreno (oboes) have recorded a collection of masterful sonatas by Jan Dismas Zelenka for this instrumentation, joined by Marc Trenel, Wies de Boeve, and Alfonso Sebastian Alegre for GENUIN. These works are particularly demanding and virtuosic. These are magnificent, surprise-filled works by a long-neglected Baroque composer. The five outstanding musicians, all recipients of international prizes, bring these masterpieces of European contrapuntal art vividly back to life. UPC: 4260036259551Label: GenuinRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: CD
More than 60 composers have set Metastasio's libretto to music, including Caldara, Vivaldi, Hasse, Leo, Scarlatti, Piccinni, Paisiello, Cherubini and, of course, Pergolesi, who presented his Olimpiade at the Teatro Tordinona in Rome for the Carnival season of 1735. It was to be last his opera seria, as the composer died the very next year, just after he turned twenty-six. His version is considered by many to be the most inspired of all, characterised by a musical originality as ingenious as it is refined, brimming with joyful freshness. Following the rediscovery of the previously unpublished Mass in D major, Giulio Prandi and his Orchestra Ghislieri return to Pergolesi with a recording of his operatic masterpiece made in the 18th-century theatre of Jesi, his hometown: an initiative of the Pergolesi Spontini Foundation which has been promoting the composer's legacy for many years. UPC: 3760195735985Label: Arcana RecordsRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: 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
Beloved songs by Stanislaw Moniuszko are presented here in a striking new sound world, inspired by the tradition of 19th-century home music-making, where the piano gives way to plucked instruments-lutes and guitars. This bold artistic vision is further enriched by masterful spoken interpretations of poetry by writers close to the composer, delivered by acclaimed actor Krzysztof Gosztyla. Two contrasting vocal voices-a light, luminous female timbre and a strong, resonant male voice-come together to tell a story in which wit and humor intertwine with moments of tender, nostalgic reflection. UPC: 5902547021898Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
This album offers a compelling rediscovery of the still too rarely heard solo piano works of one of the most distinguished pianists of the early twentieth century. In these richly imaginative pieces, Friedman reveals himself as a composer of singular refinement and atmosphere, equally capable of evoking poignant nostalgia, sparkling wit, and dazzling virtuosity. His musical language draws with particular sensitivity on the inflections of Polish folklore-dance rhythms, modal contours, and folk-inspired lyricism-while resonating with the poetic worlds of Chopin and the early Szymanowski. Internationally acclaimed as both soloist and chamber musician, Anna Parkita brings to this repertoire an exceptional combination of brilliance, nuance, and expressive insight, illuminating music that unfolds with the colour, intimacy, and haunting beauty of a distinctly Slavic landscape. UPC: 5902547022154Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
PowerfulAnna Pikulska unleashes the full might of the historic 1607 Villanueva de Huerva organ, revealing it's sonorous depth and dramatic character. Thunderous Batallas, blazing trumpets en chamade, and even drum effects created within the instrument itself make this recording an electrifying experience.MagnificentThis colourful programme spans Spain's golden organ tradition with inspired excursions to Italy and the Netherlands. Works by Correa de Arauxo, Aguilera de Heredia, Sweelinck, and Frescobaldi, amongst others, shine in performances rich with contrast, virtuosity, and stylistic flair.AngelicDelicate flute stops, finely shaded voices, and refined colours float through the wonderful acoustic of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles in Aragón. The built-in echo effects, captured in immersive 3D sound on Super Audio CD, surround the listener with a sense of space and serenity.VividWith new additions to the repertoire and countless sonic surprises, this recording celebrates the long, distinctive tradition of Spanish organ music. Pikulska's keen ear for detail and joyful musicianship make these rarely heard masterpieces come alive in all their splendour. UPC: 760623238968Label: MdgRelease Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
Mezzo-soprano Anna Lucia Richter interprets Gustav Mahler's Wunderhorn Lieder and Kindertotenliederwith great emotional depth and subtle creative power - two cycles that illuminate human fate in all itsfacets like few others. In the Wunderhorn Lieder we encounter tender childhood memories and bizarre stories - a worldbetween irony, folk song and deep melancholy. The harrowing contrast is provided by theKindertotenlieder, in which Mahler sets the pain of the loss of a child to music with poignant clarity andtouching restraint. Together with the Gurzenich Orchestra Cologne under the baton of Jordan de Souza, Anna Lucia Richtergives these songs a new, very personal dimension with her highly nuanced voice. UPC: 4260183510369Label: Myrios ClassicsRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
A fascinating and still enigmatic figure, Anna Bon di Venezia was one of the few professional female composers of the 18th century to secure a place in European courts. A virtuoso, singer, and composer, her career unfolded across Venice, Bayreuth, and Nuremberg, where she published her three collections of works between 1756 and 1759. Little is known about her: the only definitive biographical details come from the dedications and title pages of her publications. Anna studied under Candida della Pieta, a viola teacher and former student of Antonio Vivaldi. Even in her early years, she was recognized as a talented musician and soon distinguished herself as a composer. The collection presented here, Six Sonatas for Harpsichord, op. 2, was published in Nuremberg in 1757 during Anna's stay at the court of Bayreuth. The sonatas are dedicated to Ernestina Augusta Sophia, Princess of Saxe-Weimar, who was Anna Bon's pupil before marrying the Duke of Hildburghausen. Annarosa Partipilo excels in her meticulous performance, playing a late 18th-century fortepiano. UPC: 8007194108590Label: Tactus RecordsRelease Date: 4.3.26Format: CD
Harpist Anne-Sophie Bertrand presents Amalie's Cosmos, an evocative journey through the salons of 19th-century Europe. At the heart of Berlin's vibrant cultural life in the early 19th century stood Amalie Beer, a wealthy patron, intellectual, and matriarch of one of Europe's most influential musical families. While history often remembers her son, Giacomo Meyerbeer, as a towering operatic figure, it was Amalie's salon that cultivated artistic, scientific, and political discourse, supported composers, and encouraged the careers of remarkable women such as Fanny Hensel and Pauline Viardot.Amalie's Cosmos revives the spirit of these Berliner salons through a carefully curated program of works that echo their creativity and curiosity. From the intimate lyricism of Fanny Hensel and Glinka to the exotic colours of Debussy's Estampes, the virtuosity of Parish Alvars, and the contemporary homage to Paganini by Nimrod Borenstein, the album traces a delicate thread through time, place, and influence. The result is a shimmering musical tapestry that celebrates memory, artistry, and the enduring power of the salon as a space for inspiration and dialogue. UPC: 8717306264976Label: PentatoneRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
Anne-Sophie Mutter is launching her own series of recordings on Alpha Classics, ASM Forte Forward, devoted to the music of our time: it will exclusively feature contemporary works written for her. In 2026 and 2027, this exceptional artist is celebrating her jubilee: 50 years on stage, driven by curiosity, passion and commitment to the future of music. The first opus in this new series, East Meets West, includes works by four composers from diverse origins. The programme moves from solo violin, through duo and chamber repertoire, to concerto with orchestra. It opens with Likoo for solo violin by Iranian-Dutch composer Aftab Darvishi, followed by Gran Cadenza for two violins by Unsuk Chin, a South Korean composer living in Berlin, Jorg Widmann's String Quartet No. 6, entitled Studie uber Beethoven; and concludes with Thomas Ades' concerto for violin and orchestra, Air-Homage to Sibelius, premiered in 2022 and recorded here with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the British composer himself. UPC: 3701624512449Label: AlphaRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
This CD recording with flutist Anne Pustlauk is an experiment: For about 15 years, she has been researching flute performance practices in the early and late 19th centuries, which differ greatly from our performance practices today. It is not only the historical instruments that make the difference; the playing style of that time is also extremely rare today. Together with L'arpa festante under Korneel Bernolet, Anne Pustlauk searches for new forms of expression without copying a specific playing style of that time. The artists demonstrate this impressively with the famous Flute Concerto, Op. 283, by Carl Reinicke and Peter Benoit's Symphonic Poem, Op. 43A, from 1865. The program also includes Ferdinand Langer's Flute Concerto in G minor, which he composed for his friend and colleague at the Mannheim Court Theater, Franz Neuhofer (a student of the famous flute maker Theobald Boehm), who held the position of principal flutist in the orchestra there. UPC: 4011254260023Label: Note OneRelease Date: 5.15.26Format: CD
Reflecting a society marked by profound upheaval, the music of 1920s-1940s Germany was caught between vitality and despair. The era featured a diverse blend of classical traditions, popular rhythms, and early jazz, yielding everything from energetic cabaret chansons to somber ballads. The period's signature sound, Berlin's own "Prussian swing", fused rigid marching rhythms with jazz syncopation, creating a uniquely austere yet light style that avoided authentic African-American influences. By masking melancholy and sharp political commentary behind cheerful melodies, these songs captured a nation's collective tension and rebellion. Acting as a cultural seismograph from the Weimar awakening to the collapse of the Third Reich, this music continues to resonate today as a testament to finding beauty and humor amid adversity.Renowned and versatile mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, accompanied by the Salon Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin under the baton of Adam Benzwi, presents a recital featuring songs with plenty of lyricism, crazy nonsense, seriousness, beautiful melodies, and operetta numbers; a colourful mix enabling us to experience the underlying sadness beneath the glamour of beauty. UPC: 7318599928272Label: BisRelease Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
Dora Pejacevic regarded her Symphony as her most important work. Yet at it's premiere, one crucial detail was missing: her full name. In the programmes for the first performances in Vienna and Dresden, only "D. Pejacsevich" was listed. Why did the composer refrain from including her first name? And would the audience have reacted differently if they had known that the Symphony was written by a woman? UPC: 4022143234490Label: AuditeRelease Date: 4.3.26Format: CD
Annika Treutler & Aris Quartett - Sibelius: Piano Quintet & Miniatures / A true discovery: Annika Treutler and the Aris Quartett turn to Jean Sibelius's early Piano Quintet in G minor - a rarely performed gem seldom heard in the concert hall. Powerful, bold, and rich in expressive intensity, the work reveals a surprising side of the Finnish composer beyond his celebrated symphonies. Complemented by selected piano miniatures, the album unfolds a multifaceted portrait ranging from Nordic clarity to lyrical intimacy. This recording invites listeners to rediscover Sibelius - beyond the familiar repertoire and with a fresh perspective on his early chamber music.
Tracklist:
mpromptu in B minor, Op. 5 No. 5
Impromptu in E major, Op. 5 No. 6
Esquisse, Op. 76 No. 1
Elegiaco, Op. 76 No. 10
Humoristischer Marsch, Op. 97 No. 4
Etude, Op. 76 No. 2
Souvenir, Op. 99 No. 3
Novelette, Op. 94 No. 2
Im Alten Heim, Op. 74 No. 4
Romance, Op. 24 No. 9
Arabesque, Op. 76 No. 9
Björken, Op. 75 No. 4
Granen, Op. 75 No. 5
Valse Triste, Op. 44
Piano Quintet in G minor, JS 159:
Grave - Allegro
Piano Quintet in G minor, JS 159:
Intermezzo. Moderato
Piano Quintet in G minor, JS 159:
Andante
Piano Quintet in G minor, JS 159:
Scherzo. Vivacissimo
Piano Quintet in G minor, JS 159:
Moderato - Vivace
Impromptu in G minor, Op. 5 No. 1
UPC: 4255839900137Label: DecurionRelease Date: 5.8.26Format: CD
The production by the Anonima Frottolisti ensemble, which needs no introduction thanks to it's specialisation in the interpretation of medieval and Renaissance music, focuses in this work on the theme of the female figure that has been handed down to us since the fifteenth century. Cecilia represents a life story that is entirely feminine: "The lament and pity, the despair, the condition of women and their redemption," jealousy, the renunciation of nobles and knights for the defense of one's love and dignity, the "Comedy," that is, the theatrical representation of reality. The song has ancient roots in Western music, from the first monodic forms of the 15th century in France, where the protagonist is Pernette, also present in Italy in the Aosta Valley tradition at the end of the 19th century, or in the case of Jeannette, still used in children's stories in French-speaking areas, or in the fifteenth-century example La belle se sied by Guillaume Dufay and the three-voice version by Josquin Desprez, or in the narrative song of the oral tradition of the "three sisters/ladies who come from Lyon," as well as in the sacred sphere, influencing the composition of the Missa la Belle se sied in Ms. 1377 from Trento, or the Missa La Belle se sied composed by Mambriano de Orto and printed by Petrucci in 1505. The disruptive force of this tradition, that is, the traces that branched out from it starting from the European Middle Ages, are still evident and inherent in every musical and literary sphere. UPC: 8007194108682Label: Tactus RecordsRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
For his third solo album for Alpha, keyboard polyglot Anthony Romaniuk returns to the piano, exploring the seven modes: derived from the major scale, the basis of ancient Greek music but nowadays endemic in folk, jazz and beyond, each one containing a world of character and mood. Starting with John Adams' Phrygian Gates, Romaniuk devised a programme comprising music by Part, Ligeti, Radiohead and Bjork with his own original compositions; arrangements of traditional Catalan and English/Scottish music and improvisations. Continuing his search for a personal and original sound, Romaniuk uses two pianos, including a Klavins upright grand piano (from the collection of Nils Frahm) which, thanks to it's massive soundboard and 4 metre long bass strings, overwhelms the listener. The addition of various analogue and digital audio effects together with innovative recording techniques brings the listener into a unique sonic landscape, approaching that of a sound-installation. UPC: 3701624512029Label: AlphaRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
The Australian Linda Kouvaras (b. 1960) - pianist and musicologist as well as composer - adopts an explicitly feminist viewpoint in her work. She describes She, Who Should Have Been a Queen as a song-cycle, but in fact the text, by Antoinette Halloran, presents a series of dramatic scenas that radically re-assess the fates of a series of female characters from famous operas, the edgy humour and familiar musical language only slightly softening the implied social commentary. To the Lighthouse for brass quintet has, improbably, both a feminist subtext and the engaging buoyancy of a Baroque canzona. As with many other Australian composers, Kouvaras' piano music has a strong sense of space and place, and her expansive Bundanon Suite uses virtuosic piano-writing to present a series of sketches of the landscapes around the Shoalhaven River in New South Wales, with lyrical, elegiac melodic lines that soar over freewheeling piano textures. UPC: 5060113447944Label: ToccataRelease Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
Mort au Printemps is a compelling journey through some of the most powerful musical visions of death from the early twentieth century, explored through the intense and versatile language of the piano duo. In this album, the Anton & Maite Piano Duo bring together three works that are deeply connected by aesthetic affinities, personal links between their composers, and a shared creative response to the tragic.At the heart of the programme lies Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, presented in the composer's own four-hand piano transcription. Far from being a reduction, this version retains all the work's primal energy, revealing with striking clarity it's rhythmic drive, structural ingenuity, and ritualistic character rooted in archaic and ancestral imagery.Alongside it stands El DÃa y la Muerte by Fernando Remacha, a two-piano work that remained hidden for decades. Inspired by the tragic death of the composer's grandson, the piece unfolds in a sombre, deeply moving musical language situated between Impressionism and Expressionism, marked by tension, dark colours, and emotional intensity.The album is completed by Claude Debussy's en blanc et noir, one of the most distinctive works of his final period, permeated by the oppressive atmosphere of World War I despite the composer's reluctance to make explicit references. Mort au Printemps powerfully reclaims the expressive depth of the piano duo repertoire, offering a recording of exceptional intensity, precision, and artistic vision. UPC: 8436597701037Label: Ibs ClassicalRelease Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
With Ravel Reflections, Anton Gerzenberg not only presents an impressive artistic statement, but also a kind of musical self-portrait: the young pianist proves himself to be an interpreter with analytical acumen, playful wit, and a captivating virtuosity that always remains committed to expression. His playing combines clarity and refinement with passion and a fearless willingness to take risks - qualities that made him the winner of the 2021 Geza Anda Competition and which also characterize this album. UPC: 4262353970966Label: Prospero ClassicalRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
What's missing in Verdi's vast discography is a production dedicated to ballet music. This box set contains complete recordings of Philips sources from the 1970s. The high audio quality combined with a less explored repertoire, and in some cases less-known, are the ingredients of a product that can still stand in a Verdi discography without the aftertaste of dejà vu. UPC: 8051773574290Label: Urania RecordsRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
"The guitar is an expressive harpsichord" declared the composer Claude Debussy after a concert by the Catalan guitarist, Miguel Llobet. The classic guitar has benefited, more than most other instruments, from arrangements of music of many genres. Renaissance and Baroque music especially suit the timbre and range of the guitar and keyboard music is ideal for playing on the guitar, often direct from the original score. Debussy's comment may be unjust to harpsichordists, but the expressive limits of the guitar may be said to outweigh those of the harpsichord.Girolamo Frescobaldi was born in Ferrara, one of the most musically stimulating cities in Italy at the end of the 1500s. He was organist of St Peter's, Rome and is said to have also been a magnificent harpsichordist. His influence spread not just through Italy, but also north of the Alps. Gaetano Greco (also Grieco) was born and worked in Naples, notably as Maestro di cappella of the Basilica in Naples from 1704-1720. He was an influential figure, numbering Domenico Scarlatti and Nicola Porpora among his pupils.If we know the name Domenico Alberti nowadays it is probably only through the eponymous bass figuration heard in many classical and pre-classical keyboard pieces. The lively Giga, from his collection of Sonatas Op.1 gives way to a more elegant Allegro from a Sonata da camera.As well as being a composer and a pupil of Pasquini, Domenico Zipoli trained for the priesthood as a Jesuit. He emigrated to Paraguay, where he aimed to complete his training, but died before he could be ordained.With Bernardo Pasquini we bridge the gap between Frescobaldi and Domenico Scarlatti. Pasquini made a close study of Frescobaldi's work, especially his early Fantasie and employed some of these ideas in his variations.Moving forward 50 years from Pasquini, Benedetto Marcello proved to be a real polymath, with interests in politics, law and literature. He left behind a substantial number of sonatas, especially for cello and harpsichord.Like Marcello, Domenico Cimarosa's main musical output was vocal music, mainly operas, of which he wrote more than 80, admired by Mozart and performed by Haydn at Eszterhaza. Cimarosa's Sonatas are a refreshing leap into the early classical style, while acknowledging Domenico Scarlatti's influence.Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard output, 555 sonatas, dwarfs all the other composers on this recording. The similarity in range between the harpsichord and the guitar makes transcriptions relatively easy.Paradies was another composer whose music was valued by Mozart, as well as Clementi and Cramer, both keyboard virtuosi of the late 1700s and early 1800s.Played with great commitment and feeling for the style by Antonio de Innocentis, who also signs for the guitar arrangements. UPC: 5063758971461Label: Brilliant ClassicsRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
In June 2026 Divine Art is delighted to present Francis Poulenc: Music for Two Pianos performed by pianists Antony Gray and Rob Hao. Among the highlights of this superb new release are the first commercial audio recording of Antony Gray's own transcription for two pianos of Poulenc's score from the film Voyage en Amerique, the first recording of Poulenc's two piano reduction of the Concert Champetre, plus the recently discovered Valse de musique de soie.A superb pianist as well as a composer, Poulenc's works for piano are without exception charming, delightful and gratifyingly written. However, most of his piano music comes from the early part of his career, as Poulenc destroyed many of his later works, including a number for four hands/two pianos. The two-piano works on this album represent those later periods when he was at the height of his powers. The first comes from his delightful score, which was sadly lost, for the 1951 film about a couple from rural France on their first ever flight, Voyage en Amerique. Antony Gray tracked down a copy of the soundtrack, which was scored for two pianos, and transcribed it himself, realising this was the only way of recovering the score, and presents it here with Rob Hao in it's first commercial standalone recording. To complete the transcription of the soundtrack, Gray also includes the song, Adieu Maison, with soprano Helen Miles, and a Valse, in which the two pianos are joined by an accordion, performed by Alise Silina. Gray and Hao also present a later version of this work entitled Embarquement pour Cythere, scored only for two pianos.The Sonata for two pianos, arguably Poulenc's finest keyboard work, is emotionally dark and looks forward to the tenderness and anguish of the Dialogues des Carmelites. Very few works in the piano duo repertoire match this sonata in power and emotional force -aggressive dissonance is contrasted with passages of achingly beautiful material. One of his final keyboard works is the deeply emotional Elegie in which as with all Poulenc's music for two pianos, the material throughout is passed equally between the two instruments. The Concert Champetre, originally written as a concerto for harpsichord and orchestra, was reworked for two pianos, and despite missing the rich orchestral palette it's a strong work in it's own right, and is given it's first recording here.Poulenc's other works for two pianos will be made available as bonus digital-only tracks accompanying the album. The first will feature Sonate pour piano a 4 mains, written in 1918 when Poulenc was only 19 years old. It was influenced by Satie and Stravinsky, as well as Chabrier, yet is already stylistically unique and a real achievement for such a young composer. The Capriccio for two pianos is a transcription by Poulenc of the Finale of his cantata Le Bal Masque, with hilarious and surreal music, befitting the cantata text by Max Jacob. The album will be completed by the Valse de musique de soie for solo piano, performed by Antony Gray, a work only recently rediscovered in 2017.Antony Gray and Rob Hao, both pianists and composers, are from Australia. Antony Gray has long been regarded as one of the most interesting and communicative performers of his generation with many solo and chamber music performances around the world and many pieces written for and premiered by him. His recordings for Divine Art have included music by Malcolm Williamson, John Carmichael, and an acclaimed set of Saint-Saëns piano music. Rob Hao's compositions and performances have taken him across Australia, the UK and continental Europe, and he has given regional and world premieres of over thirty works in both ensemble and solo settings. His debut solo recording 'Palimpsest' for Divine Art explores how music and styles from different times interact and inspire new ideas. UPC: 809730114922Label: Divine ArtRelease Date: 6.26.26Format: CD
a·pe·ri·od·ic is a Chicago-based experimental music ensemble founded in 2010 and directed by Nomi Epstein, featuring post-Cagean notated experimental music. Their second release on New Focus features an album-length work by Magnus Granburg written for the ensemble, Aus der Nacht, von den Wehen, a forty-five-minute episodic work comprised of 71 distinct sections that explore subtle changes in attack, decay, resonance, and pitch, using an indeterminate notation to inject variability into it's performance. UPC: 613527241261Label: New FocusRelease Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
With this sixth volume, the Arcadia Quartet completes it's series of recordings of Weinberg's string quartets. The ensemble comments: 'Although from time to time we encounter music that we have never heard before, rarely is that music something we would listen to or play again. In our times, with our technology of information, it is rather difficult to discover something meaningful and valuable that had been overlooked in the past, but when it does happen it is a really special moment. For us it happened when we first encountered the string quartets of Mieczyslaw Weinberg. We felt instantly captivated by the wonderful music, the deeply inspired melodies, and perfectly shaped structures. The joy of playing his music has only proved equalled by the enthusiastic response of the public every time we present these quartets in concert, so the obvious question arises: "How can it be that we never heard about Weinberg earlier?" His music is like a glow of light surrounded by the darkness of the unknown, and it quickly became a goal of ours to attempt to dilute these shadows. With every recording and every live performance of his music, we intend to shine some light on this wide-ranging, profound phenomenon, which has remained overlooked for so long.' UPC: 0095115236321Label: ChandosRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
Duos and quartets by Wojciech Chalupka-winner of the Tadeusz Baird Competition, composer and saxophonist, and member of the acclaimed Nemesis Quartet-go far beyond personal reflections on philosophical questions. These works represent chamber music at it's highest level, brought to life in outstanding performances, including a live recording by the legendary Arditti Quartet. Striking, unconventional instrumental pairings, boundless imagination, and an effortless command of diverse musical styles define Chalupka's distinctive and compelling compositional voice. UPC: 5902547021638Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
Son of the famous Johann Sebastian, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a renowned keyboard virtuoso in the 18th century. A prolific composer and theorist of keyboard instruments, he forged the aesthetic of Empfindsamkeit, a style in which emotion is conveyed through subtle contrasts and harmonic surprises. From his Berlin sonatas to his flamboyant Fantasies, his work, published with great pomp for connoisseurs and amateurs, remains a pinnacle of musical eloquence. Arnaud de Pasquale, through the virtuosity of his playing, reveals all it's depth and expressive power. UPC: 3760385430799Label: Chateau VersaillesRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
Two years ago, the Arte dei Suonatori ensemble and it's dynamic conductor and harpsichordist Marcin Swiatkiewicz presented C.P.E. Bach's 'Hamburg' Symphonies (BIS-2459) - highly expressive and personal works. Nervous, full of unexpected twists and turns, surprises, contrasts and 'affects', they are, in a word, marked by Empfindsamkeit (heightened emotionality). This time, Arte dei Suonatori and Marcin Swiatkiewicz present six 'Berlin' Symphonies, composed between 1755 and 1758, that is, before the 'Hamburg' Symphonies. Arte dei Suonatori and it's conductor chose the original versions for strings alone with harpsichord continuo, making this recording the first to offer all these works together in their original forms without the wind parts, which were added later. The chamber-like aspect of the writing is highlighted here by the ensemble's compact instrumental force, where each musician participates on an equal footing and everyone is heard. Swiatkiewicz also points out that their interpretation, resting on historically oriented performance practices, is "grounded in a constant search for analogies between music and poetry, alongside a close attention to prosody and dance forms", ensuring that they will undoubtedly delight music lovers of the 21st century. UPC: 7318599927596Label: BisRelease Date: 6.12.26Format: CD
