This box set from the third cello session of the Queen Elisabeth Competition brings together the 12 prize-winners who offered audiences exceptional musical moments throughout the competition.It opens with the concertos performed by the first four laureates. As tradition dictates, the programme begins with Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto performed by First Prize winner Ettore Pagano, followed by Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto performed by Second Prize winner Tae-Yeon Kim. These are followed by Barber's Cello Concerto performed by Third Prize winner Leland Ko and Shostakovich's Cello Concerto performed by Fourth Prize winner alvaro Lozano Cames.A full disc of chamber music extends the journey, ranging from Josef Suk to Kaija Saariaho, and featuring Harold Noben's compulsory work alongside other highlights from the competition.The programme then returns to the orchestral repertoire with concertos by Anton Kraft and Leopold Hofmann, before concluding with Four Odes to the Tidings of Flowers by Fang Man, the compulsory work of the final round.Beyond the prize list itself, this album reflects the richness of an edition marked by the broadening of repertoire, the curiosity of it's performers, and the extraordinary diversity of musical personalities gathered in Brussels. A vivid testament to the art of cello playing today. UPC: 5400439200265Label: Queen Elizabeth CompRelease Date: 9.4.26Format: CD
This album brings together Andrzej Panufnik's late London works, music shaped by a rigorous search for formal clarity and expressive balance. Symphony No. 10, his final symphony, exemplifies the composer's use of geometric principles, unfolding in a continuous span whose restraint gives it cumulative weight. The Violin and Cello Concertos, written for Yehudi Menuhin and Mstislav Rostropovich respectively, avoid overt display, favouring lucid textures and a direct, vocal approach to solo writing. Love Song, heard in it's instrumental arrangement for solo cello, harp and strings, closes the programme with characteristic economy and poise. John Mills and Bozidar Vukotic are partnered by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Alexander Walker. UPC: 5060262794203Label: Resonus ClassicsRelease Date: 8.21.26Format: CD
In this debut recording of songs, arias and duets from tenor David Webb, composer Arthur Sullivan emerges as both a figure of Savoy theatre Polish, and as a composer of clarity and restraint. Drawing on years of experience with this repertoire, the artists bring an ease that feels instinctive and assured. With the Academy of Ancient Music, this is the first recording of Gilbert and Sullivan on period instruments, offering a sound closer to that heard in Victorian drawing rooms, concert halls and band stands than the modern pit. Textures open out, the words carry with directness, and Sullivan's craft is newly apparent across three decades of his career. What results is rediscovery: a return to the scale, colour, and immediacy Sullivan's audiences would have known. Across three decades, from early sacred works to late opera, his craft is heard afresh, with lyricism and wit. UPC: 5060262794241Label: Resonus ClassicsRelease Date: 8.7.26Format: CD
Hans Werner Henze is one of the outstanding composers of the 20th century. To mark his 100th birthday, this edition will contain all the recordings released on the WERGO label, some of which were produced under his supervision - an extensive collection that does not claim to be complete, yet serves as an impressive testament to a versatility that echoes Henze's open-mindedness and cosmopolitan outlook: in terms of cultural history, politics and society, as well as form and composition.Regrouped and divided into groups of works in this edition, the recordings, some of which are no longer available, will be released in five CD box sets in 2026, starting with the symphonies, followed by orchestral works and instrumental concertos, chamber music and piano music, vocal music, and concluding with stage works, including the previously unreleased recording of 'Der Prinz von Homburg'.Almost 50 years passed between the composition of Hans Werner Henze's First Symphony in 1947 and the Tenth, which was completed at the turn of the millennium. The literary and political references are wide-ranging, stretching from ancient mythology to the Cuban Revolution to the Ninth as great choral symphony based on 'The Seventh Cross'. From work to work, one can trace Henze's development as a composer up to the sublime mastery of his late works. With his 10 symphonies, Henze created one of the monumental symphonic cycles of the 20th century. UPC: 4010228696127Label: Wergo GermanyRelease Date: 8.21.26Format: CD
Hailed by Fanfare magazine as 'one of the major artists of our time' Ukrainian violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv continues to give voice to her country's rich musical heritage in Music of Resilience. The album explores her homeland's ongoing war and features new works: Victoria Vita Poleva's searing lament, Bucha. Lachrimosa, and two pieces by Bohdan Kryvopust, the powerfully commemorative On the River and the folk-music inspired Ukrainian Suite. Hanna Havrylets' Ex Libris dates from 1993 and employs folk music techniques that draw on ornamentation more than development. Representing an earlier generation, the richly Romantic works by Osyp Zalesky and Roman Prydatkevych are heard here in arrangements by Bohdana Frolyak. As an encore, Ivakhiv plays Yuriy Shevchenko's arrangement of Ukraine's national anthem. UPC: 747313919178Label: NaxosRelease Date: 8.28.26Format: CD
Philip Moore is a prolific British composer, who wasorganist and Master of the Music at York Minsterfor 25 years. Before moving to York he held posts atGuildford Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral and EtonCollege. He retired from the York Minster in 2008 andwas appointed Organist Emeritus. The Archbishop ofYork awarded him the Order of St William.Moore's sacred choral music is extremely popularwith church choirs around the world. This recordingfeatures a number of works specially written for StAlbans Cathedral Choir and the album also includesfive premiere recordings. UPC: 5060216341170Label: First HandRelease Date: 8.7.26Format: CD
This re-release of Beethoven: Violin Sonatas 4, 5 & 7 continues Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson's acclaimed exploration of Beethoven's violin sonatas on period instruments. Recorded in 2020, the album pairs Mullova's 1750 Guadagnini violin, strung with gut, with Beatson's fortepiano by Paul McNulty, offering performances grounded in historical practice. The programme brings together the dramatic Sonata in A minor, Op. 23, the lyrical "Spring" Sonata, Op. 24, and the sharply characterised Sonata in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2. Heard together, these works reveal Beethoven's expanding dialogue between violin and piano at a pivotal stage in his early maturity. UPC: 635212100424Label: Signum ClassicsRelease Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
Felix Draeseke's early affiliation with the music of Liszt and Wagner permeated his own compositions of the period, not least his Sonata quasi fantasia in C sharp minor, a work of sumptuous Wagnerian candour as well as balletic lightness. It also marked a significant turning-point from a revolutionary style to something more conservative. As Liszt wrote to him, 'Since Schumann's F sharp minor sonata, I know of no more such significant work of this genre.' The programme also includes a virtuoso Grande Fantaisie, two characterful Fantasiestucke and Chopin-like gestures in the Valse-Nocturne. UPC: 747313467570Label: NaxosRelease Date: 6.26.26Format: CD
Vladimir Delman was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary conductors to be appeared in Italy between 1970 and 1990. Unfortunately, the considerable number of his recordings (all of the highest quality) in the 1990s were partially released in mediocre editions by Fonit Cetra. Then, in the following years, his recording material disappeared after his death in the middle of the decade. Today, thanks to friends and the person entrusted with managing his estate, we can publish a good portion of those recordings, starting from the original master tapes, especially those of a group of composers much loved by the maestro, especially Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Shostakovich. UPC: 8051773574313Label: Urania RecordsRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
This recording is a small token of appreciation and a tribute to E.M. Timakin, my first teacher, who taught me how to play piano and helped to set the course of my musical journey that is still unfolding. He was very fond of Grieg's piano works and gave it to all of his young students to study. More than sixty years have passed since that time, but the experience of studying Grieg's Lyrical Pieces with him is still vivid in my grateful memory. For generations of young pianists Grieg's Lyric Pieces have been one of the first encounters with real music, alongside the works of Schumann and Tchaikovsky written for children. At the beginning of their training young musicians and children must dedicate plenty of time and efforts to the development and mastering of the basic technical skills such as playing scale, arpeggios and other exercises that do not carry real artistic values. Because of that the first encounters with real music are extremely important for children and could have a defining impact on their future development and growth. It is good fortune for many youngsters to be introduced to real music through these works of Grieg. UPC: 0710357646720Label: Nimbus RecordsRelease Date: 8.7.26Format: CD
One of the world's leading experts on Marcel Dupre, Tobias Frank, joins forces with his ensemble Vox ad hoc to reveal a previously undiscovered facet of the French composer: vocal works for soloist or choir, with piano or organ accompaniment or purely a cappella. Until recently, these outstanding pieces had remained quietly overlooked in the archives of the Bibliotheque nationale de France. UPC: 760623238067Label: MdgRelease Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
Roland de Lassus composed more than eighty masses, of which only two are Requiems; it is not possible to link them to the funerals of any particular individuals.The four-part Missa pro defunctis was published in Paris in 1577. The library of an abbey in Augsburg, however, contains a transposed manuscript copy intended for an ensemble of male voices (tenors, baritones and basses); what is more, this manuscript copy includes a Dies Irae that does not appear in the Paris edition. The five-part Requiem was published in 1589, five years before Lassus's death. Here, Vox Luminis presents both compositions, highlighting the contrasting colours of the two vocal ensembles: the gravity of the four-part Requiem against the light of the five-part setting. UPC: 5400439004931Label: RicercarRelease Date: 9.4.26Format: CD
Luigi Mozzani (1869-1943) is a prominent figure in the history of classical guitar and Italian lutherie. A highly talented musician and guitarist, he distinguished himself as a concert performer, composer, teacher, and innovative luthier. He was born in Faenza on March 9, 1869 (though some sources cite Granarolo di Romagna as his birthplace), and his childhood was marked by economic hardship that forced him to leave school after completing only the first grade. Nevertheless, he managed to educate himself independently and developed a strong interest in music. After initially studying the clarinet, he graduated in oboe from the Conservatory of Bologna at the age of 18, before devoting himself to the guitar - the instrument that would make him famous, leading him to perform in various Italian cities, European capitals, and North America. He founded a school of lutherie, whose developments in the pursuit of a perfect balance between art and science are still internationally recognized today. The typically Italian taste for melody - derived from opera and chamber vocal music - distinguishes his guitar compositions, which have remained largely unexplored until now. These works are finally brought to light in their entirety through the interpretations of Walter Zanetti (joined by Monica Paolini in the pieces for two guitars). UPC: 8007194108422Label: Tactus RecordsRelease Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
The Chinese baritone Wang Huandong has conquered stages across Europe with golden tone, magnificent projection and dynamic stage presence. In this debut recital on record, he presents a personal selection of arias from the bel canto repertoire, including both audience favourites and rarities. Having graduated from his initial training in Beijing, Wang Huandong continued his studies with the tenor Angelo Lofrese. He won prizes in several European competitions before making impressive debuts with major companies such as the Arena di Verona and the Opera National de Bordeaux. He is undoubtedly one of the most exciting operatic talents to emerge from China in recent years, and has specialised in the Romantic Italian tradition from Donizetti to Puccini. This album thus makes a captivating showcase for Wang Huandong, and for the full range of his technical abilities and musicianship. The authenticity of it's style is further enhanced by the participation of the Orchestra Filarmonica della Calabria, who are steeped in this style. The conductor Filippo Arlia has his own extensive experience in the field of Italian opera; as does the producer Ra?aele Cacciolla, the resident sound engineer for the Opera alla Scala in Milan. The album opens with the showpiece for Enrico in the first act of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The sombre atmosphere of 'Cruda e funesta smania' dissolves into the furious outburst of virtuosity in the cabaletta, 'La pietade in suo favor'. Much less familiar is the first-act scena for Severo in Donizetti's Poliuto. Then the aria 'Resta immobile' captures the moment of highest tension at the heart of Rossini's Guillaume Tell, as the eponymous hero attempts to shoot an apple placed on the head of his son. Wang Huandong returns to Donizetti for a pair of contrasting scenes from La Favorita, and then the superb Romanza from the composer's final opera, Dom Sebastian. On more familiar territory, he also presents 'Ah per sempre io ti perdei' from Bellini's last opera, I Puritani. Further demonstrations of Wang Huandong's versatility, adventurousness and Italianate feeling include excerpts from Bellini's Il pirata and Donizetti's Il duca d'Alba, before this showcase concludes in time-honoured fashion with the celebrated 'Largo al factotum' from Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. UPC: 5063758701075Label: Brilliant ClassicsRelease Date: 9.4.26Format: CD
The Isabella Scelsi Foundation promotes the production of contemporary music in a wide-ranging and structured manner, withparticular attention to the work of it's founder, Giacinto Scelsi.In this vein, the Scelsi Collection series has been created, in close collaboration with the Stradivarius label, which features theMaestro's works performed by great musicians and renowned vocal and instrumental ensembles.The CD we present here is the most extraordinary that one can imagine, in the true sense of the word: in fact, it documents andbears witness to Giacinto Scelsi's unique creative process. The project, conceived under the presidency of Prof. Irmela Heimbächerand edited by composer and musicologist Friedrich Jaecker, presents the heart of Scelsi's universe, with two recordings of thecomposer's improvisations, which generated the pieces that would take shape in the subsequent process of 'materialization',alongside the relative 'musical products', with performances of the highest caliber. Giacinto Scelsi's 'mystery' is thus, for once,unveiled, along it's innermost path! The CD is a unique accomplishment, created as an example, in order to allow everyone -musicians, scholars, and enthusiasts - to have an insight into the extraordinary epiphany that was renewed in Scelsi with each ofhis pieces and gave rise to works considered among the greatest masterpieces of late 20th-century music.Gianni TrovalusciPresident Isabella Scelsi Foundation UPC: 8011570373014Label: StradivariusRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: CD
With this new recording of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 Resurrection, the Basel Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Markus Poschner presents a powerful artistic statement marking the beginning of a new era. Few works could have been more fitting for Poschner's debut as Chief Conductor in Basel in autumn 2025: Mahler's monumental Second Symphony unites existential depth with visionary sonic grandeur, demanding both emotional commitment and structural clarity. At the heart of Poschner's interpretation lies a deliberately streamlined, transparent, and finely balanced Mahler sound. Rather than overwhelming massiveness, he emphasizes precise articulation, subtle dynamic shading, and a clear projection of the orchestral lines. This approach brings out both the intricate layers of the score and the chamber-like moments that give Mahler's music it's distinctive tension. With this recording, Markus Poschner and the Basel Symphony Orchestra not only document a significant artistic beginning, but also set a strong example of a modern Mahler interpretation that unites emotional intensity with structural transparency. UPC: 4262353971055Label: Prospero ClassicalRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: CD
Wild Up has been lauded as one of classical music's most exciting groups by virtually every significant institution and critic within earshot. In 2010, Artistic Director Christopher Rountree founded Wild Up with 15 musicians. Today, this GRAMMYr-nominated ensemble comprises 32 performers, with membership ranging from award-winning composers to experts in contemporary techniques, baroque music specialists, activists, studio musicians, indie artists, and educators.-The group has premiered hundreds of new works withartists such as Pamela Z, David Lang, Ted Hearne, JuliaHolter, Scott Walker, Juliana Barwick, and RagnarKjartansson. And accompanied stars like Björk.- Vol. 5 of an ongoing Julius Eastman compendium, withVol. 2, Vol. 3, and Vol. 4 earning GRAMMY nominations.
Tracklist:
No. 1, Silence
No. 2, All Together
No. 3, The Lessing Is Miracle
No. 4, Melt To and Back Again
No. 5, Dies Irae
No. 6, A Mighty Fortress
No. 7, C#mb7
No. 8, Always Making New Inversions
UPC: 4062548135886Label: New Amsterdam RecsRelease Date: 7.31.26Format: CD
Furtwaengler's Beethoven recordings have long been considered milestones in twentieth-century interpretation. Among the Beethoven recordings made by the German maestro during the war (1942-1944), they have always enjoyed great prestige. This edition, based on sources from the RRG broadcasts, offers, after a balanced restoration, perhaps the finest audio version of these important documents. The quality is guaranteed to be comparable to the finest recordings of the 1960s UPC: 8051773574337Label: Urania RecordsRelease Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz has enjoyed continuous success since it's premiere in June 1821 and rapidly became one of the models for German Romantic opera. In accordance with a tradition that goes back to Mozart's time and which was still very much alive during Weber's lifetime, many transcriptions were made either of the entire work or of extracts from it. The most important of these was made by Karl Flachs, seemingly as early as 1822, and was published in 1825. It contains an extensive selection of the work's principal numbers, including the overture and the most important arias and choruses. UPC: 5400439004894Label: RicercarRelease Date: 7.3.26Format: CD
"The soundboard is painted with flowers, fruits, and animals and decorated with a typical light-blue ornamental border. Around the soundboard, the walls are adorned with block-printed wallpaper. The lid contains a landscape painting, which was added later, an idyllic stream landscape with four staffage figures: The observer watches a boy gazing intently into the water, a young woman carrying provisions or something similar home, and a couple, who are also only visible from behind. A bridge and a mill enliven the rural scene." If the corresponding technical terms "soundboard," "ornamental border," or "lid" were missing, the reader would hardly associate this vivid, florid description with a keyboard instrument. In such a manner, the renowned harpsichordist and expert in historical performance practice and basso continuo, Wolfgang Brunner, describes the instrument dated 1628 by Andreas Ruckers, from the Flemish harpsichord-making dynasty of the Ruckers family, which is heard on this recording featuring the six French Suites by J. S. Bach. UPC: 9003643993761Label: GramolaRelease Date: 6.19.26Format: CD
Bach's 15 two-part Inventions and the 15 three-part Sinfonias played an important role in Bach's teaching. These pieces, although today mainly associated with basic keyboard training, are not at all easy and in fact are sophisticated, small-scale masterpieces. They were not composed simply to provide technical training in keyboard playing but, perhaps more important, to teach keyboard players how to compose. In 1720, Bach's oldest son Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-84) was already of an age appropriate for introducing him into the family trade of musician. So Bach started for him a music notebook: a Clavierbüchlein which included these Inventions and Sinfonias. In learning and playing these works, Bach affirmed, a diligent student would be taught "a clear manner for playing not only in two voices but also in three obbligato parts and, furthermore, not only how to invent good musical ideas [inventiones] but also how to develop these well. And above all, how to achieve a cantabile manner of playing, and additionally to obtain a strong foretaste of Composition. "Wolfgang Rübsam is internationally known as an authoritative Bach interpreter, from recordings of the organ and harpsichord on several different labels. This new recording is played on a lute-harpsichord, an instrument that Bach would have had at home for both music-making in the family and for teaching. The touch required and the sonority produced is delicate, subtly shaded, and closely related in it's effect to the music of Bach's French contemporaries, whose music he knew well, such as François Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Louis Marchand. The sound is warmer, as it has gut strings and no dampers. "These lovely performances memorably showcase Rübsam's sensitive and poetic side. Recommended. Performance: 9," wrote Jed Distler of ClassicsToday. Com about the earlier issue of Rübsam's recording of Bach's French Suites (BC 96227). UPC: 5063758976848Label: Brilliant ClassicsRelease Date: 5.1.26Format: CD
This recording is dedicated to two voices in Romantic music history that are almost forgotten today: Heinrich Stiehl (1829-1886) and Carl Schuberth (1811-1863). Both were highly regarded musicians in their day: one as an organist, teacher, and composer in Leipzig, St. Petersburg, and the Baltic region, the other as an internationally acclaimed cello virtuoso. Their works are exemplary of a musical 'second tier' that shaped the musical life of the 19th century, but whose quality can only be rediscovered today. The focus is on Heinrich Stiehl's Sonata for Pianoforte and Violoncello in A minor, Op. 37. Carl Schuberth is represented with two works that impressively demonstrate his melodic inventiveness and virtuoso approach to the violoncello: the Grand Nocturne elegiaque, Op. 6, for two cellos and piano, and the Grande Sonate for cello and piano in D major, Op. 43, a late work that combines orchestral sonority with balladic gestures. This music is interpreted by Martin Seemann and Bettina Messerschmidt (violoncello) and Mira Lange on the historic fortepiano by Streicher & Sohne (Vienna 1864). The historically informed performance practice lends the works a transparent, colorful sonority and allows their romantic expression to be experienced in all it's complexity. 0 UPC: 4039956926092Label: Coviello ClassicsRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: CD
The works of the late Romantic composer Felix Woyrsch stand as eloquent defenses of the creative successor. Perhaps it is precisely this too often disparaged generation of "late-born" artists who laid the groundwork for the great masters. By absorbing earlier achievements and reshaping them to serve their own expressive aims, they laid the foundation for later greatness. The Silesian-born Woyrsch, who established himself permanently in Altona-then still independent of Hamburg-demonstrated that even diametrically opposed models could be reconciled. He succeeded in bringing together Wagner, Bruckner, and Brahms almost imperceptibly, without sacrificing his own artistic identity. On the contrary, the cycle of six symphonies, now completed with the present release, emerges as a distinctive artistic statement-made all the more impressive by the fact that Woyrsch remained genuinely receptive to the developments of modernism. UPC: 761203562824Label: Cpo RecordsRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: CD
Recognisable throughout the world and marked by an unmistakable authenticity, Astor Piazzolla's musical language has achieved a truly universal resonance. Following on from Carlos Gardel, the Argentine bandoneonist and composer reinvented the tango in the 1950s, giving it a new aesthetic identity. Such was it's force that it ultimately moved beyond the dance itself and became the foundation of all Piazzola's musical creation. His style requires a kind of initiation: it is shaped by an improbable meeting between European art music and a popular art born in the barrios of Buenos Aires.By embracing it, Xavier Phillips and Les Solistes de Lausanne are cultivating a passionate relationship with this music, which breathes the soul of that city, poised between melancholy and exaltation. UPC: 3760419360504Label: La Dolce VoltaRelease Date: 9.4.26Format: CD
Each part in this double album presents one work of 33 variations by Franz Hummel. Initially, Hummel felt challenged by Beethoven's Diabelli Variations to compose another 33 variations on the same theme. At a memorial concert following Hummel's death (August 20 th 2022), his three master students Yojo Christen, Christoph Preiss and Alexander Maria Wagner performed and reinterpreted these variations so powerfully that the desire arose to record this experience for album. The second album features the Hercher Variations, which Franz Hummel composed between 2017 and 2019, interpreted by Christoph Preiss. A special feature is that, apart from these two works by Hummel, there are only a few cycles with 30 or more variations in well-known piano literature, e.g. Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. UPC: 4250702801993Label: TyxartRelease Date: 7.17.26Format: CD
The internationally renowned pianist Yulianna Avdeeva presents Metanoia, a profound exploration of the late piano works of Franz Liszt, tracing his radical transformation from virtuoso to visionary. Liszt's late works mark a decisive break with traditional musical language and form, opening the door to 20th-century modernism through bold harmonic experimentation, compressed structures, and strikingly dissonant sonorities. Stripped of conventional melodic development, these brief but intense works convey deep existential reflection, touching on themes of faith, mortality, and the human condition. Initially met with resistance, they would later become a major influence on composers such as Bartok, Scriabin, Debussy, and Ravel.The album unfolds in reverse chronology, culminating in Liszt's Sonata in B Minor and Legende No. 2. The Sonata in B Minor stands as one of the most important works in the piano repertoire: a single-movement structure of extraordinary dramatic and philosophical scope, where contrasting themes emerge, collide, and transform into a journey from darkness to transcendence. For Avdeeva, Liszt's music is never purely virtuosic, but an existential inquiry into the deepest aspects of human experience - light and darkness, faith and doubt, life and death - revealing a composer who continually expanded the possibilities of musical thought and expression.Yulianna Avdeeva returns to PENTATONE after a string of critically acclaimed releases: her label debut Resilience (2023), followed by Chopin: Voyage (2024) and Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 (2025). Together, these recordings have garnered international awards and widespread acclaim across the globe. UPC: 8717306266550Label: PentatoneRelease Date: 8.28.26Format: CD
Brahms: Double Concerto in A minor for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op. 102, Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 UPC: 5902547013664Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 9.4.26Format: CD
The sound of a viol consort seems to float lightly; the silky, shining tones of the viols, ranging from soprano to bass, combine almost weightlessly - free from all. This consort was particularly popular in England around 1600, and no self-respecting household was without 'a chest of viols' (a box containing a set of different viols). The most important English composers wrote wonderful music for this ensemble, from dance movements and fantasies to complex polyphonic compositions, bringing the repertoire for viol consort to a peak. The 'chest of viols' of the Ensemble Private Musicke has compiled 'highlights' of English viola da gamba music by composers such as Holborne, Dowland, Ferrabosco II, Tye and Coperario, taking the listener on a journey through the air. UPC: 4011254260054Label: Note OneRelease Date: 6.12.26Format: CD
Ignacy Feliks Dobrzynski's chamber music offers a strikingly forward-looking vision of the cello as a virtuoso instrument. Written for the leading musicians of nineteenth-century Warsaw, these works captivate with their lyrical richness and sweeping sense of drama. This album features the Nocturne, Op. 46, in it's world premiere recording. The performers bring effortless style to music that blends refined salon elegance with subtly woven folk influences-dumka and krakowiak-drawing listeners into a world of beauty, warmth, and spiritual calm. UPC: 5902547019239Label: Dux Recording Prod.Release Date: 4.17.26Format: CD
Quatuor Diotima presents an album of Beethoven's late string quartets, bringing renewed clarity and passion to some of the most profound works in the chamber repertoire. Written in the final years of his life, these late quartets unfold as deeply expressive explorations of form, counterpoint and human emotion. From the solemn majesty of Op.127 to the transcendent variations of Op.132 and the taut and spirited finale of Op.135, Beethoven's vision is at once intimate and vast, weaving intricate textures and soaring lyricism into a continuous, compelling musical narrative. Quatuor Diotima's interpretations illuminate every nuance, revealing the inventive brilliance and emotional depth that make these works enduring masterpieces.One of the most in-demand chamber ensembles in the world today, Quatuor Diotima has worked in close collaboration with several of the greatest composers of the late twentieth century, projecting fresh light onto the masterpieces of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Reflected in the mirror of today's music, the quartet brings new insight and energy to Beethoven's late voice. The ensemble returns to PENTATONE following their acclaimed Metamorphosis Ligeti (2023), Bruckner & Klose: String Quartets (2024) and Boulez: Livre pour Quatuor (2025), and most recently Lachenmann: Works for String Quartet in November 2025. UPC: 8717306266048Label: PentatoneRelease Date: 6.5.26Format: CD
Vienna was in the grip of serious political unrest that forced many of it's artists into exile when Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) composed his Second String Quartet in 1933, first performed the following year in the Austrian capital. In it he celebrated, before it faded away, the vitality of a musical school of which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) had been one of the founders more than a century and a half earlier, and which Anton Webern (1883-1945) had helped to usher into modernity. It is this lineage that the musicians of the Quatuor Hermès (the Hermès String Quartet) highlight through a twilight-tinged programme in which each work bears witness to a fascinating narrative power and could be understood as an expression of a farewell. UPC: 3760419360436Label: La Dolce VoltaRelease Date: 4.10.26Format: CD
Always curious and seeking new horizons, the musicians of the Voce quartet fell in love with Argentina during their concert tours. In Buenos Aires and Rosario, they frequented penas and milongas (folk music dance clubs) and had exciting working sessions with the illustrious Dino Saluzzi... They decided to ask composers Fernando Fiszbein, Gabriel Sivak and Jean-Baptiste Henry to write music and arrangements for them. They perform these pieces with the great Argentine guitarist Pablo Marquez and Jean-Baptiste Henry on bandoneon. This colourful programme features tangos, but also zamba, chacarera, cueca, baguala... Not to mention a tribute to Piazzolla (Four for Tango for string quartet) and Alberto Ginastera, with his first string quartet and his emblematic sonata for guitar. UPC: 3701624512180Label: AlphaRelease Date: 5.22.26Format: CD
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